Something's Different
by titangirl797
Summary: You may think that this is a regular Teen Titans in high school thing. It isn't. This story is about heroes.
1. Chapter 1

I have a few author's notes before we begin.

1) This is the typical high school fic with my way of seeing it. Yeah, I'm gonna put this into actual experiences on me and my sister's part.

2) My main characters will be Raven (Rachel Roth), Jinx (Jennifer Mallory Hex), Cheshire (Jade Nguyen), Argent (Toni Moretti), Robin (Richard Grayson), Starfire (Kori Anders), Speedy (Mia Dearden), and Omen (Lillith Clay). Many of these are from the comics, and not just the Teen Titans comics. Not all will be introduced right away either and there will be others.

3) My additional characters will be introduced as the story progresses. The main ones that you should know are Kitten (Kitten Moth), Terra (Tara Markov), Bumble Bee (Karen Beecher), Kid Flash (Wally West), Blackfire (Connie Anders), Beast Boy (Garfield Logan), Arsenal (Roy Harper), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain), Ravager (Rose Wilson), Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), and Isis (Adrianna Tomaz). I have nothing against the people who play my villains; I just think they'd be cool baddies.

4) This story was slow for a while but now I am ready to jump back into it. There will be some MAJOR changes to the story, to further aid plot development. I have a ton of ideas listed in my lovely blue, 200 page notebook. May the story live on.

5) Jump City is the place. It's classic. The city, in my opinion, has a bunch of rich neighborhoods to the north, the slums to the east, the shopping district to the west, and the suburbs to the south. In the center is the high school, a bunch of warehouses, an abandoned gas station, an apartment complex or two, some office buildings, and three churches. It's a pretty big city too, with interesting things in the middle and the shopping part of town. This story will focus on the center of town, the east, and the north. I'm sure, as schools traditionally host dances, that we shall make a trip to the west.

6) Keep in mind that this is a slowly progressive story. Sometimes it takes me a while to post chapters. Also, I may keep going back to change things, so, please, bear with me.

7) And, now, onto the actual story that I have updated and modified so many times that I have ink all over my hands and my fingers hurt. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Riiiight…if I owned Teen Titans then I'd have kept it on the air and not ruined it for the millions of people that watch it.

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If you traveled far enough into the city of Jump, you would likely find some interesting things. You may find that the police station is corrupt, or that teenagers have more control over the city than anyone knows. You may search for the caped crusaders or maybe the high school's underground pipes. You won't find them, just like you won't find anything that is meant to be hidden. In Jump City, California, interesting things, strange and scary things, were beginning to happen. Jump City High was about to be in the middle of a war, a war that most of the student body was unaware of, outside of the occasional newspaper story, or whisperings. This tale is about heroes. Isn't it always?

It all began on a bright, cheerful morning in August. Most people were still asleep at 4 a.m., but Rachel Roth was no ordinary girl. She enjoyed tea, silence, and the company of her best and only friend. She believed that she didn't need friends, and instead was enthralled in books, reading everything from Kafka to Tolstoy, with no issues understanding the vocabulary. She read all day, every day. Reading was the reason she was up so early in the morning, but why she was in the closet, maybe she didn't even know. She was deep into a heavy tome that she had switched for the Amy Tan book that she had discarded earlier. _It is impossible to read with such little light. It must be at least four by now. Maybe I should have slept last night; first day of junior year and all._ Rachel sighed mentally and closed her book. _I should IM Jen and tell her to wait by the oak tree instead of the dogwood. _She had learned from Jen last year that the "popular" crowd had begun to like the spot under the dogwood tree. She should steer clear from there for a while. Rachel opened her state-of-the-art laptop and keyed in her password for AOL.

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed in at 4:09:54 a.m._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Jenny?_

_JinxQueen666: Hey Rae_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Please call me Rachel, Jennifer_

_JinxQueen666: Loosen up a bit, girly. Whaddya need me for?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: No dogwood tree today. Oak._

_JinxQueen666: Cause of the pops?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Yeah. Don't want a chance encounter with the lovely Tara Markov._

_JinxQueen666: That's cool. Might be a bit late; Selinda won't get out of the shower._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Aw, sisterly bonding. I might just puke._

_JinxQueen666: Oh thanks =P_

_DarkDemonGirl713: See you at 7, then?_

_JinxQueen666: See ya then!_

_JinxQueen666: Wear something cute =D_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Jen…_

_JinxQueen666: Oh, and we're hanging with Jade Nguyen today, okay?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: She's fine. No Coliana Lamb, got it? She is way too hyper._

_JinxQueen666: Okay, fine. See you at school Rae!_

_JinxQueen666 has signed out at 4:11:26 a.m._

_DarkDemonGirl713: I'm going to kill you one of these days._

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed out at 4:11:54 a.m._

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At school, Rachel met up with Jen under the oak tree. Jennifer Mallory Hex was probably one of the prettiest girls at Jump City High School, and probably one of the smartest. No one cared. They only cared that her hair was blonde with pink swirls; she wore clothes from thrift stores that would look terrible on anyone else; and she hung out with that creepy Rachel Roth. Jen had been Rachel's best friend since 3rd grade. Generally, Rachel gave off the "don't get near me" vibe, but that day in art class, the new girl just plopped down next to Rachel, grabbed a pink crayon, and they had been best friends ever since. No one else talked to them that much. In their sophomore year, Jen had met a few girls including but not limited to: Jade Nguyen, Coliana Lamb, Toni Monetti, and Mia Dearden. Rachel never enjoyed Coliana's presence that much, but Jade and Toni seemed nice enough. She wasn't so sure about Mia though.

_Finally, Jen! God, when she said she was going to be late, I didn't think three minutes before bell! I better have some classes with her this year._

"Hey Rachel," said Jen, "What's shakin'?"

"I'm really tired. I was up all night reading the Joy Luck Club, and then I started reading the Book of _Obfirmo Sursum Affectus._" Rachel replied, eyeing the old dogwood tree.

"Are you ever gonna tell me what that funky Latin gibberish means?"

"No."

Jen sighed. "Stop looking over there."

Rachel looked at her, eyebrow quirked. "Looking where, friend of mine?"

"Over at those lame girls and their posse." Jen said in exasperation.

Rachel was spared a response by the morning bell ringing. She looked one last time over at the tree before running up the steps with Jen.

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"Yes! Lunch! Finally! God, I'm starved. Let's eat outside, too." Jen said, rapidly. Rachel barely had time to register the fact that Jen had run off before she had a gently tap on the shoulder. She turned and saw Jade Nguyen and Toni Moretti standing behind her, the former being the tapper. Rachel looked at them, waiting for conversation.

"Right, um, hey Rachel. Jennifer said that we're to sit with you guys today, seeing as it is the first day of school and all," Jade said, while Toni began laughing.

"Hey guys!" Jen had turned up behind Rachel, balancing four sodas on an already heaping tray. "Let's go outside." Jen began slowly walking outside, trying to keep the sodas balanced. A few people laughed. Tara Markov glared.

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The history between Tara Markov and Rachel Roth is impossible to explain. They completely loathe each other, and they are the only two to know why. Rachel told Jen that they had issues from the past. Tara told her friends that Rachel had done something to her once, but given no details. Once upon a time, Rachel Roth and Tara Markov had been the best of friends. They did everything together. Barbies, hide and go seek, climbing trees; they did everything with each other. Sadly, one day, a girl named Connie tore them apart. Connie had told Tara that Rachel had taken embarrassing photos and posted them in the boy's bathroom. Tara was mortified. She checked the boy's bathroom and there they were. Of course, Rachel would never do such a thing, seeing it as below herself. Tara immediately believed Connie, stopped talking to Rachel, and became everything she knew Rachel was not. When their friendship was broken, it was only 2nd grade. They were innocent children. Thankfully Jennifer Hex came along or who knows how long Rachel Roth would have been in solitude.

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Rachel was miffed. Yes, miffed. She had been dragged out into the heat to sit with people she barely knows. Jen kept the conversation going and Rachel was actually beginning to have a good time. Near the end of lunch, they exchanged emails and promised to IM each other that very night. Rachel sighed.

_Well, I'm glad that's over._ Rachel

Rachel sighed yet again. She still had AP Chemistry, Drawing and Painting I, and American History to go. Good thing she had Chem with Jen. She knew that Tara and Kitten were both in her last period. _Well, at least they're not in every class. Plus, they probably won't bother me. I'll just read._

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Rachel Roth did not read very much in that first American History Class. What she did was copy notes, draw, do a worksheet, get mocked, and get laughed at. She ignored everything. RING!

The bell rang and everyone rushed out of the room. Rachel walked slowly to her locker, wanting to yell at anyone who looked at her. When she finally met up with Jen, Jen knew something was up.

"You're walking like the dead, you didn't say anything when I mentioned Homecoming, and there is less emotion on your face than there usually is. What's up?"

"I'm fine. Am Hist was just amazingly boring. I have Tara and Kitten in there. I'm good."

"Ooooookkkkkkkaaaaaayyyyyy." Said Jen slowly, smiling all the while. They made a turn north and then a left.

"See ya later, Rach. Get that Calc done!" Jen called as she walked up her driveway. Rachel nodded, took a right at the stop sign, and stopped. _I can barely think. I need some tea._ She began walking again and then remembered that there was none of her favorite tea left at home right now, and that's what she needed. She went back a ways and went to the east, where she knew the closest mart to be. She knew she was in the slums, but she knew judo and was ready to protect herself.

She turned at a sudden noise. She saw a beefy man beating a woman who was obviously much younger than him in the alleyway. She stared for a moment, recognizing the girl as Lilith Clay, a girl in her AP ELC and American History classes. Lilith was bleeding a lot; from the nose, the lip and the thighs. The thighs! Rachel ran towards the man, not thinking. She made a quick jab at his neck with her index and middle finger and he was down. She kicked him aside with her foot and reached down.

"Lilith! Are you okay?"

The girl stood shakily, grasping at Rachel and the wall. "I'm okay, a little shaken, but okay. That was…amazing."

"The blood on your thighs?" Rachel asked cautiously, not responding to the compliment.

"Scraped on the wall. I thought I was going to be raped, Rachel!" Lilith broke down, sobbing into Rachel's shoulder. Rachel was shocked for a moment, not used to emotions all over the place and hugging, but she allowed it because the girl was in such distress. She even patted her on the back a bit.

"I'm sorry about this, Lilith. Here, walk with me, I'll get you to your home."

So, leaning on Rachel, the girl pointed out where she lived. Rachel helped her hobble there, but before she sat her down, looked at her ankle, and pronounced it broken. "You need to get a cast on that, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks a lot for getting me home Rachel. A lot of people told me you were a mean bitch, but I don't think that. Especially now. Thanks." And with that, Lilith hobbled off to her front door.

As Rachel watched her go she wondered how many women were getting raped, right now. It was darker out, probably about 5:00. She should get home. _I knew that Jump had a really high crime rate, but this is terrible._

When she got home she went up the large front stairs, took a left, walked down a very long hallway and opened the door at the very end of the hall. It was a very foreboding door, made of heavy walnut. The floors of Rachel's room were walnut also, but she had a large black rug laid out on the floor. Everything in her room was either black or purple. The only thing she had that wasn't was a beautiful, ornately done hand mirror, given to her by her mother, who had passed away. Rachel stared at herself in the mirror. Short cropped black hair, actually amethyst eyes, pale skin. She knew that many people found her pretty, but all she saw was her mother, weak before she died. She knew who killed her, and she hated him.

Suddenly, Rachel ripped open a drawer of her dresser and shoved the mirror inside. She hated looking like the mother that she had loved so much, that she had lost so early. She sighed and sat down at her computer, logging into AOL and her IM.

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed on at 5:54:35 p.m._

_JinxQueen666: Hey Rach. You were s'posed to be on an hour ago. What's up?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Went to go buy tea, saw Lilith Clay about to be raped or brutally murdered, knocked man out with pressure point jabs, and helped Lilith get home._

_JinxQueen666: Srsly? That's like whoa! We should have her sit with us at lunch tomorrow. _

_JinxQueen666: Speaking of lunch, how much would you mind if Jade and Toni joined us from now on?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: I'll live, but we need to stop adding people or we'll need a whole table._

_JinxQueen666: So true. _

_CheshireCatGrin has signed on at 5:56:11_

_CheshireCatGrin: Hey Jen, hey Rachel_

_JinxQueen666: She said yessssssss_

_CheshireCatGrin: Woot! Hang on; I'm calling Toni to tell her to get online._

_xxMorettiJewelxx has signed on at 5:59:58_

_xxMorettiJewlxx: Hola girlies _

_DarkDemonGirl713: I said yes._

_xxMorettiJewelxx: Yeahhhhhh babayyyyy. Thanks. Had fun today._

_JinxQueen666: Gotta go. Menstrual unit is making me wash dishes XP_

_CheshireCatGrin: Same, but it's my bedroom. See ya_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Bye._

_xxMorettiJewelxx: Adios, chica. Gosh, I'm on a Spanish kick. I'm gonna go too. Lots of homework for Law Studies. Ugh._

_DarkDemonGirl713: See you guys._

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed out at 6:02:03_

_JinxQueen666 has signed out at 6:02:05_

_CheshireCatGrin signed out at 6:02: 08_

_xxMorettiJewelxx signed out at 6:02:13_

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That's the rewrite for Something's Different. You'll see what happens. Four chapters are written on paper, thanks to my abysmally boring American Government class. Coach Martin gives me time to write.

Just a few things to say:

_Obfirmo Sursum Affectus – _that's Latin for "locking up emotions". Sadly, Jen doesn't know that…yet.

Early on in this chapter, I wrote that Selinda won't get out of the shower at Jen's house. Well, Selinda is actually a comic book character called Shimmer. She's Mammoth's sister who is killed but brought back to life. She has the power to change, say, sand, into fire. But only for three minutes, ish.

All of the classes are based off of the Courses section on my school's website. We are an IB, AP, Honors, Dual Enrollment school, so we pretty fly, haha.

REVIEW!!!!

With all of my love, Titangirl797


	2. Like Alcohol

Hey, it's me, Titangirl

Hey, it's me, Titangirl. I hope you read and reviewed! Ha.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned Teen Titans but I don't. I wish I owned AOL but I don't. I wish I owned Dillard's but I don't. sigh that sucks.

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"Okay, so what are you thinking about?" Jen munched on her taco happily. It was lunch, one week after Rachel saved Lilith. Lilith had decided to eat with them from then on. Toni and Jade were there as well. Also, Jade had invited Mia Dearden, the girl with random outbursts. Mia had been sitting with them for a while. Jen loved the girl, so did Lilith. Toni and Jade were nice enough but Rachel didn't believed they sincerely liked the girl yet. Rachel was undecided.

"We need to go shopping!" said Jade quickly.

"Why?" asked Lillith. She mimed cutting her throat at Rachel over the back of Jade's head. Rachel didn't find it very amusing. She had a headache and wanted to sleep. Her father had been having a lot of guests over lately, for dinner parties. She had to attend all of them. She hoped there wasn't another tonight.

"Because we need Homecoming dresses!" Jade practically shouted.

"Um, Jade? Hate to break it to you, but Homecoming isn't for three weeks. Plus, there is no way you are getting Rach to a mall. She hates them with a fiery, burning passion." Rachel nodded her head fervently.

"We're going this weekend, no excuses." Jade said. Mia groaned. Finally the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. Jen sighed. _Sometimes Jade scares me._

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Way across the quad, another group of girls were talking about Homecoming.

"Kitten! Homecoming isn't for, like, ever!" cried Tara Markov, the cheerleading co-captain.

"Exactly why we need to go now! Otherwise all of the good dresses will be in the hands of people like Jen Hex!" Kitten said angrily. Kitten was a blue eyed blonde who gave all blondes a bad name. She had an annoyingly high voice and was obsessed with the color pink.

"I agree with Kitten. I wish for a nice dress this year." Kori Anders was on Kitten's side? That was new. The tall redhead usually did not like Kitten. Tara looked at her and said, "Fine, this weekend we'll get dresses." Then Tara glared at Kori until the entire cheerleading group had left. Kori was still packing up her bag. Tara punched her in the shoulder.

"Ow! Why did you punch me, Terra?" Kori looked hurt. Tara continued to glare.

"I don't want to go shopping this weekend. I wanted to hang out with Gar but no, you had to do everything that dumb Kitten wanted. Thanks a lot Kori!" She punched Kori again, lighter this time, but in the spot where she had broken a bone over the summer. Kori winced, Tara smiled, and someone watched.

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_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed in at 3:15:16 p.m._

_JinxQueen666: You're late._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Blame Jade. She can be so needy sometimes. She wanted to know whether emerald or jade looked better on her. You know, for the dance._

_JinxQueen666: What did you tell her?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: I told her to try green._

_JinxQueen666: How'd she take it?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: She was ready to lynch me before I could finally get away._

_JinxQueen666: Sweet. Hahaha, so what are you going to buy for the dance. A dress?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Hah._

_JinxQueen666: Pantaloons?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Yes._

_JinxQueen666: …_

_DarkDemonGirl713: And pink also._

_JinxQueen666: sigh If only._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Yeah right. So, pink or black for you?_

_JinxQueen666: Pink. Black for prom, duh._

_JinxQueen666: Let's see: Jade is gonna wear some type of green, and I'm not sure if that's even the best color on her. Maybe she'll look like asparagus. Mia wants red, like a fire truck, or a fire hydrant. Lol, dogs wee on fire hydrants. Toni is doing black, so she looks like a corpse. Oh, and Lilith wants white._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Nice. Jade will look gorgeous, as usual. Mia should tone down the color of red, but def. not pink. Toni is going to look very nice in black, but maybe she should try for red also, because black washes her out just a bit. Lilith, hm, white? That might be good actually…_

_JinxQueen666: When did you become so knowledgeable in fashion?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: I know more than you think I do. evil look_

_JinxQueen666: Don't doubt it. Blue for you, maybe? It'll bring out your…skin? Haha_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Do I have to go? I don't want to be surrounded by idiots sweating and grinding the night away. I might go crazy._

_JinxQueen666: You have to deal with those animals because I have to and Jade will kill us if we both skip the dance._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Fine. No prom though._

_JinxQueen666: If you get a date then you're going._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Okay._

_JinxQueen666: It was that easy?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: All I have to do is not get a date. How hard can that be?_

_JinxQueen666: Gr at you._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Going. Bye._

_JinxQueen666: See ya, hookah._

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed out at 3:31:23 p.m._

_JinxQueen666 has signed out at 3:31:27 p.m._

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By the time the weekend, all of the girls except Rachel knew what type of dresses they wanted. Saturday morning they speeded off to Dillard's in Jen's Jaguar and they spent four hours deciding on dresses. First, Jen grabbed Rachel's arm and sped her to the dresses. Jade and Mia followed, while Toni walked behind them with Lilith.

"Okay, Rach, we're doing you first because you're going to take the longest." Jen said, grabbing dresses off of racks.

"Oh thanks, Jen. Do I have to go? I hate dances, you know that." Rachel said quietly. Jade looked up at her from where she was examining a blue strapless dress and said, "Oh, you're going. Please, Rachel? It'll be a ton of fun. Even Toni is going and she can't stand dances either."

"That's because you're holding my iPod hostage."

"Not the point Toni." And with that, Jade shoved three red dresses, a gray one, four black, and a white into Toni's arms. "To the dressing rooms with you!" She marched Toni off, Toni looking very sad.

Rachel looked at Jen. "Don't even try to do that with me." Rachel stated.

"I know. Try these, okay? Please, Rae, just do it. I really don't wanna fight." Rachel nodded and took the proffered dresses. She walked to the dressing rooms with Mia beside her, the girl having already grabbed about seven dresses.

"You'll look nice in blue." Mia said quietly.

"Funny, that's what Jen said." Rachel replied, not looking at the girl. Once they reached the dressing rooms, Rachel went into the handicapped stall and Mia went to an open one on the other end.

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While this was happening, Jennifer was still trying to find "the dress".

"Damn you, Dillard's! Give me a dress!" Jen mumbled. Then she spotted it. It was just a small fold of pink sticking out of a rack. She went for it, not realizing that another hand was heading for it at the same moment. Jen grabbed the dress and saw that there was a pull on the other end. She looked up and saw Kitten Moth holding onto the other end of the dress.

"Hey bitch, let go of my dress." Kitten cried, trying to pull it out of Jen's grip. _That's gonna rip if she doesn't stop soon. Wait, __her __dress?_

"Did you hear me? Let go!" Kitten said again. Jen only held on tighter.

"Kitten, just let go. It's a dress, I was here first, and I can subconsciously tell that it will look better on me than you, seeing as I have at least a good amount of breasts for a junior." Jen said calmly. Kitten looked outraged.

"Kitty, just let go, it's no biggie." said a voice about a rack over. Jen looked past Kitten and saw Cassandra Cain, president of the Martial Arts club, cheerleader, and tech whiz. Everyone knew not to mess with Cassandra, because she could get pretty mean. Everyone knows that Cassandra and Roy Harper, captain of the baseball team, all night. Roy was a stuck up idiot who hung with the pops.

Kitten let go, trying to make sure that she didn't look dumb or weak in front of her friends. "You can't have everything, little Hex. And big bad Rachel Roth isn't here to protect you right now." Kitten advanced and punched Jen on the jaw. Jen rolled her jaw, positioned her right fist, and punched Kitten in the stomach, then laughed. _What did she think I couldn't fight?_ Kitten had stood up and was advancing again but Cassandra held her back. "Let Roy handle her, Kitty." Cassandra motioned Roy forward, who moved quickly and punched Jen in the face, while kneeing her in the stomach. Jen dropped to the ground. While Roy thought that he had won, Jen was just taking a breather. She was about to sweep Roy's legs out from under him but someone yelled. She looked up. Jade was running towards Roy. Roy seemed surprised and he ignored Jen for the moment. Jen took that moment to do the leg sweep she had been planning. He fell and Jade kicked him in the side.

"Don't. You. Ever. Touch. Her!" Jade yelled, punctuating each word with a kick. Jen smiled and stood up. She pulled Jade back.

"For goodness sake, it was a dress! I think you'll live." Jen said, massaging her right cheek. Kitten fled, with Cassandra slowly walking behind her.

"You're gonna get it, Hex."

Jen and Jade turned and saw that Cassandra had stopped.

"I'll be ready." Jen grimaced, knowing that something bad was going to happen, most likely at school. Cassandra turned and kept walking. Jen and Jade walked back to the dressing rooms.

"Wait!" Jen cried. She looked around.

"What?" asked Jade in concern. Jen ran back to where they came from. She grabbed the gorgeous pink dress, smiled, and ran back to Jade.

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"And then she stopped and said that I was gonna get it." Jen said. It was about an hour later, and they were eating lunch together in the food court. They all had chosen their dresses, with a few surprises. They were getting shoes after lunch, but they were starved.

"What did you say?" asked Mia, always the curious one.

"I said that I'll be ready." Jen replied, sipping her Diet Coke. She looked at her Chinese food and remembered the look on Cassandra's face when she said that something bad was in store for her. Jen was suddenly scared.

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It was Monday the next time Jen and Rachel saw each other.

"Gotta go to locker!" was the only excuse Jen had for running inside early. Rachel followed at a slower pace. Was it her or were more people looking at her than they usually did? No, they were definitely looking. Whispering too. This couldn't be good. She hurried and caught up with Jen at her locker.

"Have you noticed that people are looking at us and whispering?" Jen said under her breath. Rachel nodded. "I wonder…why…" Rachel looked at Jen, wondering why she had trailed off. You couldn't get her to shut up usually. Jen was holding a paper.

"What's that?" Jen didn't answer. "Jennifer Mallory Hex! What is that paper that you are staring at so intently?" Jen handed it to her.

"It's a copy of our IM from the other day…" Jen said quietly. "But drastically changed." Rachel finished. And so it was. It was the IM from a few days before, but it had been changed. While in the original they had been talking about how beautiful the girls would look for Homecoming, this one bashed all of the girls.

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed in at 3:15:16 p.m._

_JinxQueen666: You're late._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Blame Jade. She can be so needy sometimes. It's so annoying!_

_JinxQueen666: What did you tell her?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: I told her to try green. I should have said "Shut up, you whore."_

_JinxQueen666: How'd she take it?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: She was ready to lynch me before I could finally get away._

_JinxQueen666: Sweet. Hahaha, so what are you going to buy for the dance. A dress?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Hah._

_JinxQueen666: Pantaloons?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Yes._

_JinxQueen666: …_

_DarkDemonGirl713: And pink also._

_JinxQueen666: sigh If only. None of the girls are as pretty as us. What a shame, having to go to the dance with bigfoot (Jade) and her companions._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Yeah, so true. Pink or black for you?_

_JinxQueen666: Pink. Black for prom, duh._

_JinxQueen666: Let's see: Jade is gonna wear some type of green. She'll look like asparagus. Mia wants red, or a fire hydrant. Lol, dogs wee on fire hydrants, and she always smells like wee, so it works! Toni is doing black, so she will look more like a corpse than usual. She is so fugly! Oh, and Lilith wants white. God, she's annoying, always tagging along. What a loser._

_DarkDemonGirl713: They are all so ugly and annoying. Why do we let them hang out with us?_

_JinxQueen666: So we seem nice? Not sure. We should make them go away! Then we won't have to go to the dance!_

_DarkDemonGirl713: Do I have to go? I don't want to be surrounded by idiots sweating and grinding the night away. I might go crazy._

_JinxQueen666: You have to deal with those animals because I have to and Jade will kill us if we both skip the dance. She is so dumb to think that dances in high school are important…or fun._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Fine. No prom though._

_JinxQueen666: If you get a date then you're going._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Okay._

_JinxQueen666: It was that easy?_

_DarkDemonGirl713: All I have to do is not get a date. How hard can that be?_

_JinxQueen666: Gr at you._

_DarkDemonGirl713: Going. Bye. We can bash people later, kay?_

_JinxQueen666: See ya, hookah._

_DarkDemonGirl713 has signed out at 3:31:23 p.m._

_JinxQueen666 has signed out at 3:31:27 p.m._

"Oh. My. God." Jen said, slowly sliding her back down the lockers. Rachel knew how she felt.

"You know who did this, right? That moron Cassandra Cain. She said she was gonna get me for beating up Roy." Rachel nodded, knowing that was true. Then Jen jumped up, pulling Rachel with her. "The girls!" And with that, Jen pulled Rachel off to find Jade, Toni, Mia, and Lilith. They scoured the front hall, getting some stares, and then went outside. There they were, sitting under the oak tree that they had sat under for a couple of weeks.

"Mia!" Jen called. Mia and the others looked up. Jade whispered something in Mia's ear and they all looked away. Then Toni looked back. Jen smiled and waved. Toni flipped her off.

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And that is the end of chapter two! I hope you enjoyed it! I'm trying to make the chapters longer. I promise to you that chapter three will be at lease 4,000 words! By the way, the title is from a quote by Ester Dyson. It says: The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect.

REVIEW!

Titangirl797

P.S. if you want the schedules of the people in the story or what they will be wearing for homecoming, I can only give you the fist one until homecoming is over. I have pictures of their dresses and shoes.


	3. Necessary to Life

Okay, Titangirl here

Okay, Titangirl here. Sorry it took so long to get the third chapter up, my family was having a crisis of sorts. Let's continue on our merry little journey, shall we?

Disclaimer: Hah, I wish I owned Teen Titans or DC Comics. I don't though.

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"What the hell, Rachel!" Jennifer cried as she looked at her friends serious expression. "'We don't need them'? That's a bunch of crap; they're our friends! You're just gonna let this all go how Cassandra and Kitten want it to? Since when do you let people walk all over you?" Rachel let her friend vent, while waiting for her to finish. They were walking home, after spending an entire day trying to get the others to talk to them again, but failing miserably. All they had gotten out of it was a black eye (for Jen, when Toni got fed up with the begging) and a hurried "I can't talk to you anymore," out of Lilith.

"I was simply saying that maybe we're better off without them. Now we don't have to go to that silly dance." Rachel replied calmly, watching Jen's expression change from confused anger to full blown fury.

"We don't have to go to the dance? Oh, god, Rach! You're basically quoting the fake message! Well, if you wanna think that way, go ahead. I want to be their friend again, even if you don't. Why don't you just go hide in your books, you creepy bitch!" Jen stormed off, leaving Rachel with a look of shock and sadness on her face. Jen and her had never gotten in any major fights before, just small spats over people and going places. Rachel's eyebrows met at the center; you could tell she was upset. And Rachel Roth does not let people see that she is upset. She thought for a moment, and then started walking the opposite way that Jen went, towards her home. She reached home, unlocked the door, and saw her drunken father passed out on the couch. It was barely 2:30. It must have been his day off. She walked along the long, dark hallway to the last door on the right. She entered her bedroom, still thinking. She walked over to the closet, grabbed the book from inside, and went to sit on the bed. Only then did she realize something had popped up on her computer. It was a message alert from AOL, saying that five people had dropped her from their buddy list. She only had seven people on her buddy list, including an aunt that she rarely spoke to, and an old friend of hers from when she was staying at said aunt's house. She looked at the message for a long time. Then she simply shut off her computer, sat on the bed, and opened up the Book of _Obfirmo Sursum Affectus._

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Three days later, a Thursday. Rachel Roth now sat alone at lunch, inside, away from Jennifer, Mia, Lilith, Toni, and Jade. The last four passed her every day on their way outside for lunch, and she had them in her classes. Jen was in a bunch of her classes, but ignored her. Rachel provided the same treatment. Jen sat away from most people, but had one friend, Coliana Lamb, the girl Rachel couldn't abide. But on this day, instead of heading to the final table on the left, Jen went to the third table on the right. She stood across from Rachel, who was reading a book with no cover, though Jen had a clue what it might be. Rachel didn't look up as her old friend stood there, watching.

"Rachel." It was the first thing said between the two girls for three days, the three days that had felt like a lifetime.

"Jennifer." Rachel said blandly, acknowledging the other's presence with a quirk of her eyebrows.

"Look, I'm really sorry about the other day, Rach. I didn't mean half of the stuff I said, and I miss you like mad." Jen said hurriedly, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"I don't care, Jennifer." Jen was shocked. How could Rachel say something like that? To her, of all people. Jen had expected that she'd be pissed but not that badly.

"Rae, I miss you! We're best friends! We have been for years! I didn't mean what I said! I just blurted out mean thing because I'd been having such a crappy day!" Jen tried to justify herself to Rachel, though she felt like she shouldn't have to.

Rachel finally looked up from her book, her eyes blank, except for a slight understanding that was soon replaced by sneering indifference. "I don't need your friendship, Jennifer. You showed me three days ago just how great your friendship is. Next time you're in a fight, try not saying things you don't mean. You might keep a friend." Then Rachel looked back down at her cover-less book, flipping a page and saying no more. Jen gaped at her. _How is our friendship over like that? Why can't she just accept my apology? Maybe it was because of what I called her…but…that shouldn't matter! She should be able to get over stupid names._ So, without saying a word, Jen walked away to join Coliana at their table.

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Over the next three weeks, Rachel gained more of a reputation than she already had. She was everything from a bitch to the spawn of the devil. It was a Friday, and Rachel was looking forward to the weekend. No idiots from school, no homecoming, no messaging. All that was needed, she had. Tea, books, silence. It was lovely not having people talking to her at all moments anymore. As the bell that ended second period rang, she collected her books and walked out into the busy hallway. She was given her wide berth of room that people had been giving her lately, ever since the IM conversation and the loss of friendship with Jennifer Hex. Rachel walked to her Calculus Honors class, realizing that none of her ex-friends were in this class. She sighed mentally. She didn't want a confrontation with Jade or any of the others this close to Homecoming. She sat in the back of the class, close to Rose Wilson and as far as possible from Roy Harper. Roy was a definite idiot, and Rachel was in a mood after the nightmare that had woken her up at 3:00 a.m. She couldn't get back to sleep after that and spent the rest of the early morning reading. The dream had been so vivid. But…she didn't want to think of the dream now, not when her most difficult and boring class was starting. As the teacher entered and set up the overhead, Rachel put her head on her arms and waited for her class to be over.

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She was walking down a long alleyway in the east of Jump City, the same one she had saved Lilith in. It was dark and cold and Rachel didn't know what she was doing there. The bricks on either side of her were dark and shadowed, and not much could be seen ahead. She walked slowly forward, not knowing where this alley would lead. She walked until she came close to the end of the alley. All that was there were some trash bins. She was close to turning around when she heard a little gasp coming from the bins. She was suddenly on the alert, watching and waiting. When nothing jumped out at her, she walked slowly over to the bins. As she neared, she could see the outline of a small child huddled behind the trash bins. She drew nearer and a kick caught her in the shin. She immediately grabbed the injured area while the child in hiding got their chance. They ran, slightly unsteady, as if they were drunk. _But a child doesn't get drunk_, thought Rachel as she ran after the kid. She easily caught up with the escapee, but didn't want to scare them so she slowed down a bit. "What's your name?" Rachel asked as she ran. The child didn't answer, but only ran faster. "I only want to help!" Rachel cried, but the child only ignored her.

Rachel was beginning to tire and she had no clue how far she had run. She could see nothing but the child ahead, weaving about. _Where is this kid going? Why are they running like that? _She was so lost in her thoughts that she ran straight into the child, who had stopped at a dead end. Rachel was kicked and scratched several times before she detangled herself from the limbs of the little one. As she looked down upon the shadowed face, she realized that the child was a female and was also covered blood. It looked as though the right side of her face had been hacked off. Rachel backed away from the girl, who turned toward her. They were both standing now, and Rachel was frightened. She had no clue where she was and she was standing in a dark alley with a mutilated child. Rachel watched the girl for any signs of life. The kid had her blonde head down, so Rachel couldn't see her eyes. She took a step closer and it was then that the child lifted her head. All Rachel saw was the eyes, glowing red in the darkness. Then a variety of other images came into her head. Blood. A gun being loaded. A girl in black. A flash of silver. A room filled with pounding music. Darkness.

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"Miss Roth, do you mind not falling asleep in my class?" A voice interrupted the darkness that Rachel had succumbed to. She opened her eyes. The teacher, Mrs. Ziglo, was standing beside the desk, looking down upon the awakening form of Rachel Roth. Rose Wilson was staring at her with a mix of curiosity and understanding. The rest of the class was watching as well.

"Awake, are we, Miss Roth?"

"Yes." Rachel replied, a headache beating a tattoo inside of her skull.

"I'll try to make my class more interesting for you, Miss Roth." The teacher still looked upset. Rachel stared back at her with intensity. Finally Mrs. Ziglo switched her gaze to the rest of her students. "What are you doing? I thought that I assigned enough work, but I guess that I should add some more problems." And with that, Mrs. Ziglo walked up to the board and added some numbers to an already long list. The class groaned as one.

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It was lunch on that same Friday. Rachel had managed to get through her AP Psychology class without falling asleep. She didn't need another dream like that one. There was no way she was falling asleep in her Inter Aerobics class, not with Jen in there too. She reached the cafeteria doors at the same moment as Jade and Lilith. Jade gave her a look that could melt diamond and Rachel moved her gaze to the red-head walking beside her. Lilith gave her an apologetic half-smile and walked away with Jade. Rachel scanned the room as she walked to the salad bar. People were giving her even weirder looks than they usually did, probably because the falling asleep in Calc class story was spread around. She was halfway to the salad bar when she felt someone's eyes on her. She turned her head and saw the elusive girl she had been searching for. She picked up her pace and headed toward the blonde-and-pink haired girl. Jen saw her coming and looked over at her other old friends, who were walking out the door. None of them saw her, just Rachel. Rachel reached Jen and saw that Jen was practically angsting. Probably because it had been a very long time since they had talked.

"Jennifer," Rachel greeted.

"Rachel, I don't want to talk to you." Jen said, getting it out before Rachel could say anything else. She began to walk away. Rachel grabbed her wrist and Jen moved back into the corner she had been in before.

"Do you still do those Tarot readings that you were famed for in the ninth grade?" Rachel asked, quietly but quickly. Jen gazed at her intently, as if trying to figure out what she was really asking, and nodded slowly. "So that means that you still interpret dreams, right?" Rachel said, releasing her grip on Jen.

"I…I do. Why, Rachel? Just in the mood for another friendly reading?" Jen looked at her without blinking and Rachel couldn't stand eying the girl anymore.

"May I speak with you after school?" Rachel queried. Jen crossed her arms.

"No, Rachel, because we aren't friends anymore, remember? You don't need them." Jen retorted. She gave Rachel a challenging look and smirked.

"I was wrong, Jen. I've missed you. And right now I'm being a huge hypocrite for saying this because it is what you said to me, and I didn't accept it."

"Yeah, Rach, you've been a huge jerk and hypocrite for a few weeks now. And you know what I think? I think I don't have any reason to take you back up as my friend." Jen was about to walk away when Rachel mumbled something. "What was that?" Jen asked, genuinely curious. Rachel looked up at her.

"I'm going to talk to the others." Rachel repeated. She saw the look of surprise and confusion on the other girl's face and decided to explain. "I was wrong, thinking that I needed no friends. I need you. I need Jade, Toni, Lilith, and Mia. I need all of you. I have been having trouble coping with myself lately and I realized what was wrong. I was lonely." That was a lot of her heart she was pouring out, but if Jen really was her best friend, she'd understand and know that Rachel was being truthful.

It was along these lines that Jen was thinking as she took in Rachel's words. She knew that Rachel and she were friends, and there was only one thing left to do. Jen grabbed Rachel's wrist this time, and walked. Rachel followed. They two reunited girls walked out the cafeteria's doors and onto the sloping courtyard of Jump City High School. They spotted the familiar black of Jade's hair and the pale skin of Toni. Jen let go of Rachel and they walked over to the laughing girls. They had been laughing over something hilarious, obviously, because they failed to notice the other girls for at least a minute, though it became very forced after a while. Finally, Jade looked up.

"Jade. What's up?" Jen said as she plopped down beside the startled girl. Rachel sat down as well. Toni glared.

"You can't just sit here, you know." It was Toni who spoke, with Mia nodding in the background.

"Oh?" Rachel replied, glancing over at the dark girl.

"You think that you two can just say whatever you want about us and we'll just let you walk all over us? Well, the answer to that is no, so just go away," Toni replied.

"You know that wasn't our IM, right?" Jen said slowly.

"Uh huh, because someone else's screennames are DarkDemonGirl713 and JinxQueen666. Nice try." Jade said, rather quickly.

"We were I'ming about how gorgeous you guys were gonna look, thinking about colors, and I wanted to know about Rachel and prom. We never said any of that. Remember at the mall, when Cassandra said that she'd get me? Well, isn't she into computers and technology? I thought she won a prize or something! Do you really think we'd say something like that?" Jen said, her face getting pinker every moment.

"I believe you."

Everyone turned to look at Lilith. She looked a little nervous but then she nodded. "Those things that were said by 'Rachel' didn't sound like her at all. They weren't subtle. And the stuff by 'Jen' seemed fake too. It sounded like stuff Kitten would say. I mean, the fire hydrant red and the wee thing was a stretch. I'm sure Jen could think of a million things to say about Mia without sounding like she was stretching it," Lilith said slowly, looking at all of the other girls.

"Listen to Lilith, girls!" Jen said quickly. "That's not our style, she says. Well, she's right. It damn well isn't!"

Toni and Jade peeked at each other before nodding. "Sorry, guys. I guess we just assumed it must be true," Toni said, with Jade nodding next to her. They glanced over at Mia. She looked shyly at the other girls before nodding as well. All was well.

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"So, what did you need that was so important?" Jen asked Rachel as they walked home. It was about 2:00 and the sun was beating down on them.

"Did you hear the story of me falling asleep in Calculus class today?" Rachel asked. Jen nodded, wondering what this was about. "Well, when I fell asleep, I had a dream. The same one I had last night. In fact, I've been having the same dream for at least two weeks, every night."

Jen watched Rachel get this entire story out. Jen understood then. "You want me to see if I can decipher this nightmare that you have been having, right?"

"Yes." Rachel said, sighing. She looked over at Jen and saw her staring at her.

"Repeat the dream to me. Slowly." So Rachel did. When she got to the part about the face, she couldn't go on. "Come on Rae, I need to hear all of it if I'm gonna figure it out."

Rachel sighed and picked up where she had left off. When she finished, Jen was looking at her strangely.

"Did you, uh, understand any of it?" Rachel asked nervously. Jen was still giving her that look.

"Mostly, yes. I think I'm gonna need to look something up though. Let's go into my house. C'mon!" Rachel followed Jen up the winding driveway into the Hex's mansion home. The colonial style building was big and beautiful. Jen hated it. 'I've always wanted to live in a small, suburban house.' That's what she always said. Rachel always wondered if it was true. Jen got to the door first, opened it, threw her bag in the corner, and called 'Honey, I'm home!' Jen's mother came out from around the corner, wearing an apron over jeans and a t-shirt.

"Oh, hi, Rachel dear. I wasn't expecting you. Jen, you have to clean your room this weekend, it's getting atrocious." With that, Gabrielle Hex went back into the kitchen. Jen rolled her eyes and began walking up the French paneled spiral staircase. Rachel followed her. Once they reached the landing they walked to the second door on the right. Jen stopped before she opened it.

"Now, remember, Rach, my room is atrocious. I'm embarrassed by it. I can't believe I'm letting you see this."

Then she opened the door. The walls were as pink as ever and the comforter and silk sheets were still the darkest black, with pink throw pillows over top of them. The same pictures were on the walls and the black standing lamp still had a purple boa over it. But the white carpeted floor…had exactly one shoe laying on it. Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"This is the big mess?"

"Oh the horror?"

"Uhm…no."

Jen went and sat down at the polished mahogany desk. She flipped the hot pink lamp on and grabbed a piece of paper and a fluffy purple pen.

"Okay, Rach, go from the beginning one more time, just to be sure."

Rachel repeated the story, not being able to continue after the mutilated face appeared. She tried several times but words just wouldn't come.

"It's okay Rachel, I remember the rest," Jen said when she realized her dark-haired friend could continue no more.

"Do you know what it means?" Rachel asked cautiously.

"Yeah, hang on."

Jen reached over to the bookshelf that was next to the desk. She grabbed a sky blue book with gold writing on the from proclaiming it 'The Dream Diary'. Jen took a few moments flipping through it, stopping every once in a while, scribbling something down, and repeating the process. Finally she shut the book.

"I know what it means," Jen said as she turned to look at Rachel. "I'm gonna explain it piece-by-piece, okay?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Rachel replied, anxiously.

"Okay, so the alley in your dream could mean that you have limited options for whatever you need to do. Walking down the alleyway could symbolize that your reputation is in jeopardy."

"Too late for that," mumbled Rachel. Jen laughed.

"Uh, the darkness in the alley may mean that you will fail in whatever exploit you will be coming into soon. It may also mean that you have a fear of the unknown, or maybe it means that you do not have enough information to make a clear decision in a very important matter." Jen looked over at Rachel. Rachel was staring into her lap. Jen decided to keep going.

"The clod means that you are feeling isolated. Confusion in your dream means confusion in real life. Specifically noticing the bricks seemed important, so I looked that up and it symbolizes your original ideas and thoughts. It also could mean that experiences have hardened you. Trying to help the child behind the bins means that you are trying to save a part of yourself from being destroyed. Dreaming that you are being kicked usually means you're feeling taken advantage of, though it is known to mean that you should continue toward your goals," Jen looked up from her paper again and saw Rachel looking at her, shock on her face. _Something in my last few interpretations surprised her. Wonder what…_

"To chase someone or something means that you are attempting to triumph over a difficult task, though it may also mean you are being denied of your power and influence. You need to re-evaluate your strengths and concentrate your efforts in something more worthwhile. The not answering you thing may refer to some aspect of yourself that you are not paying attention to. When you tired from running after the girl…that may have meant that you are feeling emotionally drained or stressed," Jen looked up again and saw Rachel looking very pale.

"Rach? You okay?" Jen said in concern. Rachel nodded and a little color came back to her face.

"Keep going." Rachel said quietly.

"This is where it got really difficult. See, a lot of these don't really fit or make much sense. Like this…the falling into the girl may have meant that there is going to be a loss of control soon. It may also have meant that something very overwhelming is happening in your life or will be in the near future. Uh…the fact that it was a girl represented your playful and innocent side. See? A lot is starting to mess up. Listen, it says, blood means life, love, and passion as well as disappointments. That you noticed she was blonde was odd so I checked up on that and it means to enjoy life. The red eyes was to show evil and energy combining into one deadly force." Jen stopped there. She didn't want to continue.

"Finish!" Rachel said quietly, with all the intensity of a cyclone. "I need to know…"

"The gun symbolizes aggression, anger, and possible danger. It was being loaded, so that means to not let your temper get out of control or there will be catastrophic results. The girl in black…well, that means the unknown, unconscious, danger, mystery, darkness, death, mourning, hate or malice. This would generally refer to the girl that was dressed in black. The silver shows justice and purity, a protective energy. Whoever created the silver will become very protective of the important matter at hand. The dark room means that you will feel trapped very soon, and because the music you heard was very loud and not very pleasant…unhappiness and troubles will be with you," Jen finished, staring at the paper she held. Then she stood up, walked over to Rachel, and handed it to her. Rachel took it, stared at it, and put it in her backpack.

"For later," Rachel said to the confused look. "Is this a prophetic dream that I'm having?"

"I think it may be. It may also be an epic dream. I wrote about both of those on the paper. You'll see later."

Rachel stood up. "I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you on IM tonight?" Jen nodded.

"I'll have to add you again."

Rachel just looked upset and said, "Okay. Bye." She then left abruptly.

"Bye bye, Rach," Jen said softly.

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Okay, so that was over 4,000 words. 4,139 to be exact. And that's without author's notes. I'm very proud. Maybe more next time. So…here's the review replies! Oh…wait…there's only one. How sad. Well…here it is, presented by the lovely Jinx!

**Jinx: I hate you right now.**

**Titangirl: Suck it up, sweetheart! Answer the review already!!**

**Hidden Iris**

**Jinx: Yes, Cassandra can be an evil, lying bi-**

**Titangirl: Jinx…I have the flame blower and your unicorn sketchbook…**

**Jinx: Uh, I mean, yes, Cassandra is an evil character, a great villain, don't 'cha think? (sweatdrops) Titangirl797 didn't spend much time on the fight scene, mostly because she's an idiot that doesn't realize that fight scenes are the most important part, but she's glad you like it anyway. Please keep reviewing!**

**(Runs away)**

Well, there ya have it. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I listened to the RENT Soundtrack the whole time I was writing it. Four times. Actually, after a while I got bored of the music and decided I might get more done with silence. Therefore, you better have liked it. The title is based on a quote by Anais Nin. The quote is very short and to the point. "Dreams are necessary to life." Love it. Toodles!

Titangirl797


	4. Cut my Conscience

Hey, I'm back with the third part of this…interesting…story

Hey, I'm back with the third part of this…interesting…story.

**Jinx: You're an idiot. This story isn't interesting at all.**

**Titangirl: Thanks for the support, Jinx. Now I have to make your character horribly injured in some way.**

**Jinx: Uh, no need for that, girlie.**

**Titangirl: So you apologize?**

**Jinx: Uh…sure!**

**Titangirl: Good. Now go away and let me get on with the story!!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans, the cartoon or the comic. I also do not own the characters from the comics that are not Teen Titans. I don't own Barney's, Niemen Marcus, or Bergdorf Goodman. If I did, I wouldn't be sitting in a messy room, staring at my Harry Potter posters for inspiration.

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Rachel Roth was thinking. She had rushed home, her head full of terrifying thoughts. She barged through the front door and ran. She ran upstairs, and instead of running down the long hallway to her bedroom, she went to the other side of the landing, where all that was there was a solitary, dark polished wood door. She hesitantly walked over to it and slowly pushed it open. All that was inside the door was a closet and a window, showing the darkening skies. She made her way over to the closet door and simply stood there. Then she opened it. Inside, there were many coats and scarves, all, it seemed, made for heavy cold. She pushed past these, heading to the back of the closet. There was a small spiral staircase, barely large enough for her to fit, in the dark corner of the closet. Rachel put her right foot cautiously on the first step. The step squeaked. Rachel sighed, remembering the last time she had come up here. She sighed again and began to walk up the small staircase. The stairs were not very long, so it didn't take much time to get to her destination. She was in a small, unlit room that had the air of neglect. Rachel crept over to where she knew there was a lamp. She smiled, flicked on the light, and beheld the room that she had spent much time in, not so long ago. There was another staircase, smaller than the last, with only about four steps. Rachel walked across the almost empty room to the stairs. She followed them upwards and pushed a small wooden door open. She emerged on the roof of her house. She sat down on the very small landing that sloped downward at the edges. When her house had been originally built, the owner had a medieval castle in mind, so it was made of cold stone and had one, very small tower at the top. It was the largest, and strangest, house in the neighborhood, where homes usually were wooden and elegant. But it wasn't like the original owner, or Rachel's father, to conform.

Rachel felt the first drop of rain and knew that in moments it would be pouring. Rachel didn't mind though. She loved rain, though she never told anyone. She looked up at the sky, watching the rain fall on her. Soon it was pouring. Rachel was soaked, her skinny jeans and black long-sleeved shirt clinging to her, but she continued to think. She remembered all that Jen had said, not needing the paper she had been given. _Limited options…but for what? My reputation was in jeopardy, but that's already come to pass. I'm going to fail at something soon…that probably relates to whatever I have limited options for. If I interpret me as failing something that isn't the big important happening in the future, will I still fail at whatever that is, or does it change? Not enough information…I can't understand that one…not yet. Feeling isolated…that happened already, when Jen and I weren't on speaking terms. Experiences that have hardened me? Maybe Arella's death…maybe dealing with my father. Trying to save a part of myself, but that couldn't be. Subconsciously, maybe. Hm, am I feeling taken advantage of? No, not at the moment. Maybe something is going to happen, though. Being denied of power, re-evaluate strengths? My strengths? Concentrate my efforts into something more worthwhile? Where have my efforts been lately? In my book, of course, so I have to change that? Emotionally drained, loss of control, playful and innocent, disappointments. I need to enjoy life? One evil and deadly force? Aggression, anger, danger. Don't let my temper get out of hand, danger, death, hate for the girl. Someone is protecting people. Justice and purity…ideal qualities. Feeling trapped, along with unhappiness. A possible prophetic dream, maybe…epic._

Rachel looked up, confused. _Enjoy life. Protective. Failure. Experiences. Strengths. One evil force._

"But…what?" Rachel said that out loud, confused by the dream. She stood to go inside, her hair dripping on her shoulders. She went back down the stairs, shook off the cold rainwater, and followed the other staircase back into the closet. From there she went into her room, grabbed a pair of black silk pajama bottoms and a dark blue tank top, and walked into the adjacent bathroom.

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"Okay, guys! Today's the day!" Jade cried as they walked up to Jump City's mall.

"You make it sound like we're getting married," Jen grumbled, glancing over at Jade. When they had been at the mall last time, all of the girls except Rachel had bought a dress, but only Jade had bought shoes. Ignoring Jade's complaints that all the good dresses would be gone; Rachel agreed to go shopping…again. Once they were in the mall, the girls went off to different stores. Jen and Mia went to Barney's to find shoes, Jade dragged Rachel off to Bergdorf's to find a dress for her, and Lilith followed Toni to Niemen Marcus.

Following Jen and Mia to Barney's, they went to find jewelry. Jen knew that she needed silver and maybe diamonds and Mia didn't know what to look for, though Jen didn't know that. They reached the jewelry cases and Jen immediately began chatting with the obviously gay man behind the counter.

"So, I was looking for something dangly, silver definitely, with diamonds, maybe," Jen was saying to the guy. She looked over at Mia. "What are you going for, Mia?" Mia shook her head.

"I have no clue, actually. I've never shopped here before." Mia said slowly. Jen shrugged and said, "Well, I know your dress; I can help." Jen turned back to the man behind the glass counter. "My friend here needs…diamonds. Studs, preferably." The man nodded and went to another part of the counter to find their requests. Jen turned to look at Mia.

"Have you really never shopped here before? 'Cause this is where everyone in m family shops, same with all of the other girls."

Mia sighed. She knew this would come up eventually. "No, I've never been in here before. Mostly because…" Mia was cut off by the man returning and saying, "Here you are, girls. Do any of these earrings work for you?" He pointed to a large array of silver and diamonds. Jen looked them over, shook her head, and said, "No, none of these really match my dress. Hm, these would work for you, Mia. Come check them out." Mia wandered over and took a look at the nice diamond studs. They were really pretty and shiny, but Mia knew that she couldn't get them.

"I can't get them, Jen." Mia said miserably. Jen quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, if you don't like them…"

"That's not it. I mean, I can't afford them. I don't have a seven digit trust fund like you do, Jen." Mia spoke very quietly. Jen got it then. Mia's family must be something like lower or middle class. Jen spoke again.

"Okay. So, sir, we'd like these diamond studs. Wrap them carefully!" Mia looked over at the blonde girl. "But Jen…" Mia started.

"It's no big. I can afford them. They're only three thousand." Mia's jaw dropped open. Three thousand dollars? The gentleman handed Jen a delicately wrapped box and Jen whipped out her debit card. She paid and said, "Come on, let's go find the others."

While the scene in Barney's was playing out, Jade and Rachel were in Bergdorf's, trying to find the perfect dress.

"Hey Rachel! I think I might have found the dress for you!" Jade called across three racks of dresses. Rachel walked over to look at the dress. She shrugged.

"At least it's not pink." And she walked into the dressing room with Jade following behind her. Rachel closed the door on Jade and her. Then she slipped out of her long pants and shirt until she was just in her lingerie. Then she unzipped the dress and pulled it over her head.

"Zip me?" Rachel asked of her companion. Jade obliged and they both looked at her in the mirror.

"Wow, Rachel! That's a great color on you!" Jade exclaimed, hoping Rachel liked it too. Rachel looked at herself in the mirror with a critical eye. She turned to the side and said, "This looks terrible. It doesn't fit properly and it clashes with my skin. No." Jade was shocked.

"C'mon, it looks awesome! You are so getting that dress!" Jade tried to help her friend out.

"No."

"Just get it. Please? Trust me on this," Jade begged. Rachel looked at her blankly.

"Fine, but I refuse to wear it to the dance." Rachel said, motioning to Jade to unzip it. Jade did so and Rachel slipped out of it. She threw it to Jade, who hung it back up. Rachel grabbed her clothes and began redressing. She finished, grabbed the dress from Jade, and walked over to the overly tanned blonde in the super high red heels. The lady saw the two girls coming and put on a smile.

"Do you need something, girls?" the lady asked, her voice honey sweet. Jade and Rachel glanced at each other.

"We don't need help from a badly dressed airhead…" Rachel began but Jade cut in.

"Yes! Help would be nice! We're buying this, uh, dress," Jade said quickly, ignoring the look of contempt on Rachel's face. The lady nodded and walked them over to the cash register. The woman rung up the dress and said, "That's 339.20."

Rachel's jaw dropped and she looked over at Jade, who nodded fervently. Rachel took out her card and handed it to the lady. Ten minutes later, the two girls were waiting for the others by the swimsuits. They saw Jen and Mia approaching, Jen with no bags and Mia with only one.

"Where are Lilith and Toni?" Jen asked as she realized only Rachel and Jade were there. Rachel shrugged, looking around. From the other side of the store she saw Lilith and Toni coming their way. When they reached the other girls, Toni sighed and said, "We found the cutest pair of red pumps for Lilith but no shoes for me. I'm gonna go to the shoe section, 'kay?" And she wandered off.

"You get a dress, Rach?" Jen asked.

"Si, senorita." Jade replied for Rachel. "Had to stop her from lynching the poor salesperson, though." Rachel only glared. Jen shook her head.

"Only one place left," Jen said, pulling everyone toward the jewelry section of Bergdorf's. When they reached the jewelry, everyone split up.

Rachel had been looking at a pair of pearl earrings when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up; it was Jen. Jade was next to her, biting her lower lip.

"What?" Rachel asked, a bit irritated.

"The man walking up to the register has a gun in his back pocket." Jen responded, looking a bit nervous. Rachel looked over, nodded, and walked forward casually, still holding the earrings. She sidled up to the man, right as he pulled the gun on the terrified cashier.

"Gimme the money," he said, in a low, gruff voice. Raven quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't think so, buddy." And with that she hit a pressure point on the man's neck and he went down.

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And once again, we have my lovely assistant Jinx!

**Jinx: Assistant, my ass.**

**Titangirl: Jinx, what have I said about swearing? Hm?**

**Jinx: Don't do it?**

**Titangirl797: Bingo! (jumps around, laughing)**

**Jinx: Wow, you're crazier than I thought!**

**Titangirl: YES I AM! MUHAHAHAHAHA!**

**Jinx: Did you get into the sugared cereals again?**

**Titangirl797: Sure did! Woooooooo for Lucky Charms!**

**Jinx: And I'm stuck with you…**

**GossipGirl**

**Jinx: Do you actually watch that show? It sucks.**

**Titangirl: Jinx, don't insult other people's personal choices! It's rude, unicorn girl.**

**Jinx: Gr.**

**Titangirl: (smiles manically) Get on with it you pink haired swizzle stick!**

**Jinx: Damn those cereals! Thank you for reviewing. Titangirl didn't rush, she just kept getting distracted by the pretty things outside the window. Don't mind her.**

**Titangirl: Wheeeeeeeee!**

**Jinx: Xoxo, Jinx**

**xxScriblezxx**

**Jinx: This is ridiculous.**

**Titangirl: GO!**

**Jinx: Thank you for reading this mind-boggling story, and how you managed to drag yourself to review…**

**Titangirl: Furry monkey, get on with it! We don't have all day!**

**Jinx: Yeah, we do.**

**Titangirl: Hehehehehehehe, go!**

**Jinx: Keep reading, or this idiot will force me to do a Native American tribal dance, bonfire and all. **

The title of the chapter is from a quote, as always. Here's the quote:

I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions.

**Lillian Hellman (1905 - 1984)**, _letter to Committee on Un-American Activities of the House of Representatives, May 19, 1952_

I thought this fit because a) they shopped a lot in this chapter and it says the word fashion, haha, and b) when Rachel "saves the day", she's doing what she thinks is right. I thought that this would fit in with her morals, seeing as she is also against being a conformist. Just thought I'd put in an idea or two. I hope everyone is having a great summer. School's starting back up for me soon, so I may or may not get one out before August 18th. If I don't, don't expect one for a while, because school takes a lot out of me.

Lots of love,

Titangirl797


	5. Crime Never Sleeps

Okay, I'm back with the next chapter of this little story. It will get better, I promise. And, once again, here's Jinx with the disclaimer!

**Jinx: I hate you.**

**Titangirl: Be nice, Jinxie!**

**Jinx: *mumbles under her breath***

**Titangirl: What was that?**

**Jinx: I said that you are a psychotic authoress that is writing a story that is dumb and makes no sense! It's a boring story!**

**Titangirl: Do you really feel that way, Jinx?**

**Jinx: YES!**

**Titangirl: Well, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I'm sorry it had to be this way, Jinx.**

**Jinx: What do you – **

**Titangirl: *opens up the trap door under Jinx, who falls in. The door then closes* Dang, now I need a new assistant…hm, well, I don't own Teen Titans or Marvel Comics (just in case they come into play). DC Comics owns the Teen Titans, and Cartoon Network owns something. I just don't remember what. Oh, and sorry about the change of last name for Toni. My computer is very dumb, with an IQ of 43, and likes to make my n's into r's. Yeah, I don't get it either. So, I finally fixed it and you will see n's now. I will not be going back to change the previous chapters until after I have finished the story, so live with it!**

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"We can never thank you enough, Miss."

Rachel stood in front of the cash register, trying to buy some earrings, but the cashier kept pestering her about the robbery. Rachel sighed, holding back from snapping at the lady.

"Really, it was no big deal. Can you ring up the earrings now?" Rachel said coldly, using her best monotone voice. She narrowed her eyes a bit.

The lady blanched and nodded and began the process of selling the earrings. While she was doing this, Rachel glanced around for Jen, and found her huddled with the others by the shoes. She saw Jade shaking her head fervently but her sightseeing ended when the cashier tapped her on the shoulder and said, "That's $674.59, Miss."

Rachel paid the woman and walked away, putting the expensive pieces in her pocket. She dared someone to try and pickpocket her. She strolled away, toward her friends. They didn't seem to notice her. As she got closer, she heard snippets of their conversation.

"…good idea…dangerous…"

"I won't…need…"

"Shut…do…for her…"

"Promise?"

"Hey Rachel!" Mia said, noticing the girl over Jen's shoulder. The other girls spun around, surprised looks on their faces. Rachel looked at them all with a cold glare.

"Is there something you're keeping from me? Because I really would like to know what it is," Rachel said, voice like ice, cutting and freezing. Everyone but Jen paled.

"Well?" Rachel was getting tired of waiting for an answer. If they didn't say something soon, she was just going to walk away.

"Well, Rachel…we, I mean I, had an idea," Toni started, changing her story after a look from Jade. "Maybe we should do everything possible to stop things like that attempted robbery."

Rachel just looked at her, and then nodded her head slightly. "And how would we do that?"

"Well, that's the thing, Rae. I think the best possible thing to do is to, well, become superheroes. I mean," she began to speak faster, noticing the look on Rachel's face, "you saved Lilith that one time and now you've saved this store. You're a natural born hero. Plus, with the rising gang wars, maybe we could do something to save our city from becoming somewhere like Gotham. C'mon, there are other heroes! Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman! People look up to those heroes!" Toni ended her little speech there, growing wary of Rachel. She took one step back. Then Rachel spoke.

"Toni, there are several things I would like to say about your little tirade. One, do not call me Rae, because my name is Rachel! Two, what makes you think we could be superheroes? We can't fight; we have no powers, nothing. Is death what you're looking for? And three, do you want to be like those heroes? Always being the hero, never getting close to anyone because you have enemies. Always being suspicious of everything and never fully happy? You're getting ahead of yourself, Toni. This is not the best idea. The gangs out there could kill us."

"I know. But they could kill other innocent people too. I mean, there have been several deaths in the last couple of weeks; brutal and cunning. This metropolis needs help, and we can give it to them!" Toni replied, faster than Rachel expected. She was just about to reply to Toni, yet again, when Jen jumped in.

"I think it's a good idea, Rach. Think of what we could do!" Jen said, stepping between Rachel and Toni. Then Lilith stepped up.

"We were just agreeing that it was the best thing to do when you came over. Everyone's for it…except you…and Jade."

Rachel glanced over at Jade, who looked at Rachel with steely eyes. "My mother would kill me if I became part of a crime fighting group. Plus, we could get killed or make things worse!" Jade said, a bit quickly. Rachel silently agreed, except it would be her father that would kill her.

"Please, Rachel? Can we at least train? You don't have to fight; just work with us in training," Jen pleaded, looking straight at Rachel with a hopeful gaze.

Rachel mulled it over. She could…maybe. Things could be bad with her father, but Toni was right, there were so many people she could help. She knew through her father's dinner parties that some group called the HIVE was setting up a base on the outskirts of town. The gangs were battling harder than ever and some people swear they had seen some notorious assassins hanging about town. Rachel, deep down, knew it wasn't the best idea, but there was just so much that could be done. Some scum could be wiped away from the underbelly of this city that was rotting from the inside out. Rachel knew the police force was half crooked and there was a lot of crime. The more she thought about it, the more she knew that she had to do it. To save people that couldn't be saved. To redeem herself, her family name, perhaps.

"Okay."

The other girls stared at her, startled. Rachel had been silently thinking for over a minute. As they realized what she had said, a smile grew on all of their faces except Jade.

"But just training, for now."

All the girls nodded, squealed, and jumped up and down. Rachel and Jade refrained from all of this, slightly creeped out. Then Mia asked, "Where are we gonna get powers from?"

This stumped them. As they pondered this new interference with their plan, Rachel went off to talk to Jade. No one knows what they said but when the two came back, Jade was saying that she'd train, but only that for the time being. That's when Lilith had the idea.

"Wayne Enterprises. We could get powers from Wayne Enterprises. My dad works there and he told me about this new experimental 'super suits' that they were coming up with. Each has their own powers and is concealable. Isn't that cool?" The other girls, save Rachel and Jade, were very excited, but then Rachel reminded them, "I doubt that Bruce Wayne will let us just walk in and take the suits. We'd have to steal them."

"Steal?" Jen asked, slightly worried now. Wayne Enterprises was a fortress. How the hell were they going to get in?

"Maybe I could make a copy, a real copy of my dad's id badge. If I took it, he'd know it was missing and connect the thefts to us. But if he has it, then possibly we could get inside, avoid traps, and get the costumes."

The rest of the cluster stared at her. Lilith shrank away, berating herself for the idea. Then Rachel said, "Lilith, that's brilliant!" Lilith smiled, stepping closer to the girls.

"But I think only one of us could go inside," Raven continued, "because we need someone to monitor and remove all traps for us via computer, two people to watch the outside, and two to watch inside. Jennifer, you should be the one to go inside. Everyone knows you're sneaky, can find the best hiding spots, and know martial arts." Jen looked at Rachel with wide eyes.

"Oh, no, Rach. I couldn't do it. Send Jade instead!" Jen said, a are-you-crazy look on her face. Rachel, though, looked stern.

"If we're doing this, then you're going in. Jade and I will watch the inside; Toni and Lilith outside. Mia, you'd be on the computer," Rachel said, explaining all details to the slightly intimidated girls. Mia nodded, knowing what she could do with the computer. "You can do it, Mia?" Rachel asked, glancing at the shrewd computer hacker. The only one better with computers than her was Cassandra Cain, but of course they weren't going to her for help.

"Yeah. Once Jen's in, I just need to hack into the system when it's at its lowest, which would be when the door is opening. I'll give Jen something to stick onto whatever id scanner they have so that I can get in all the way," Mia said, looking thoughtful. She was considering how she was going to play this. There were so many things that could go wrong. Rachel was watching all of the girls with calculating eyes, then she turned and said, "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going home before it get's dark." And with that she walked off. The girls shared a glance, excited but worried, and followed after Rachel, hurrying to catch up.

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_The very next night…_

It was very late at night in Jump City. Most people, or at least the ones with common sense, were asleep in their beds, doors and windows locked tightly. Sadly, this was not the case for our five of our six dear heroines. No, they were wide awake, sipping coffee, and walking in the direction of the center of the city. Normally, this was a very foolish thing to do, five pretty girls walking around at night with all of the scum and gangsters out, just waiting to rape some poor, unsuspecting teenager. But this was not a normal night, no. Tonight was the night that these five pretty girls were going to break into and rob a high security vault of one of the richest men in the world's giant company. Wane Enterprises sold technology among other things, mostly to the government, but also to some more prominent companies, such as S.T.A.R. Labs. Knowing that they were heading off into the night to rob somewhere only made the girls feel dirty, like the scum that they were about to come across. They had just crossed a road and were very close to Wayne Enterprises when one of the many punks that this city held stepped out of the shadows of an alleyway, a woman in a tattered dress behind him. For a moment he only leered at the future superheroines, and then shrugged, "I already had dinner, but you'd make a nice dessert, pretty ladies." He lunged for Lilith, who freaked.

Lilith Clay had already become very close to being raped in her lifetime. She knew that it was not a pleasant feeling to be forced to do something, so she did what girls in a fight with a nasty man did best. She kicked him in the groin. He fell to the ground, clutching his crotch. The ragged woman that he had previously raped stumbled out from the alleyway, clutching herself. She saw the girls, and then saw her previous attacker on the ground. She then looked at the girls once more, unsure of what to say, so Rachel spoke for her.

"Run. Get out of here before you are injured again," Rachel said, looking straight at the petrified woman. The woman nodded her head slightly, eyes darting between the man and Rachel.

"Thank…thank you," the woman said, her long blonde hair getting in her face. She swiped it out of the way and looked back toward the troupe of troublemakers, but they had disappeared into the night.

In actuality, the five teenage girls had merely walked around her and stepped into the alley to take a shortcut to Wayne Enterprises. Rachel shivered as they entered the alleyway, remembering her dream, but trying to focus on the task at hand. They moved through the alley, jumped several fences, and then there they were. Wayne Enterprises. The place that contained what they needed to be something other than themselves. Rachel stopped them all from moving. She grabbed her black cell phone and pressed speed dial number six. They waited while it rang and then it was answered.

"I'm in position," Mia's voice said through the receiver, "so tell me when we're ready."

"Toni and Lilith are getting into position right now. From there, Jade and I will follow Jen in, keeping to the shadows, taking out anybody we need to. Then Jen will use the id to get into the main vault. Do you have the plans, Mia? Because you know we need you watching Jen from the cameras and looping them to everyone else to get Jen even into the vault," Rachel replied, motioning Toni and Lilith to move. They went in opposite directions, both neat the door of the company building.

"Yes, I know, Rach. My loop feed is ready to go and I have a blueprint of the building so that I can guide Jennifer. I'm ready," Mia responded, sounding slightly more confident. Rachel nodded, even though Mia couldn't see her.

"Okay, we're heading in. Keep a watch on us and tell us when someone's coming. If we need you, we'll contact you by way of cell phone."

"Over and out, boss lady. I just hope we know what we're doing," Mia answered, saying the last part softly. Rachel flipped her phone shut, checked that Toni and Lilith were where they were supposed to be, and then turned to Jen.

"Why are we doing this again? We're going to get caught and spend the rest of our lives in jail. Is that the future you want? Because I can assure you, it's the one we're getting," Rachel whispered to Jen, as they walked toward the main doors of the place.

"You're just getting me more worried, Rae. Go bother Jade," Jen said, feeling the nervous tingle spread from just her stomach all the way down her legs. She felt like she was walking on jelly.

Rachel smirked, "Just letting you know what you're getting into, Hex." Jen rolled her eyes and then said, "Hurry up, Jade! We have to go!" Jade rushed to catch up.

Rachel sighed and then thought, _I just hope we know what we're doing. We're going to need a lot of luck to get through this._

When the group of three reached the front doors, there were no guards in need of taking out. So, Jen took out the id and swiped it on the scanner. To all of the girls' surprise, it worked. The door made a beeping sound and swished open to allow them access. Jen quickly slapped the probe that Mia had given them onto the scanner, allowing Mia to hack into the mainframe of the building. As soon as that was done, she swiveled the cameras several times to show that she had control. Rachel saw the sign and motioned for them to move forward. The three girls sneaked forward quietly, noticing no one. Then the cameras went up and down once; the signal that only one person was headed their way. Jade and Rachel prepared themselves as Jen melted into the shadows. The man rounded the corner and could barely register two teenage girls dressed in all black before he was under attack. Jade kicked him in the stomach, and then dropped down to sweep his legs from under him. It might not have worked if Rachel hadn't punched the back of the man's neck, causing temporary paralysis.

When the guy was down and out, Rachel and Jade shared a small smile with each other, and then advanced. They saw Jen sneaking ahead of them and hurried to catch up to her. They made it to the main vault with no other inconveniences. Jen swiped the id yet again but the door did not beep and open. She tried again. Nothing. The door was not opening. Rachel took out her phone and speed dialed Mia again. Mia answered on the first ring.

"Having trouble with that door, good lady? Shall I hold it open for you, as a true gentleman should?"

"Mia, just open the door," Rachel said in a dead monotone. Mia winced on the other side of the phone. She hated that voice. She tapped a few keys and then said,

"You need to have a code."

"What's the code?" Rachel asked, bored of standing and waiting, cautious of the fact that anyone could come around the corner.

"Hang on, hang on…" Mia said, and the sound of her tapping furiously came through the speakers of the phone. A few final taps and Mia said, "67101858623."

Rachel repeated it to Jen, who had just noticed the little number pad directly under the id checker. "Long code," Jen mumbled, trying to remember it all.

As soon as the door had sprung open, Rachel snapped the phone shut. She stuck it back in her pocket and went to one side of the door. Jade walked over to the far corner, the one that they didn't come from. Jen smiled, whispered, "Wish me luck," and walked into the vault, door closing behind her.

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Inside the vault, Jennifer Mallory Hex was nervous. Hell, she was beyond nervous. She was terrified. She had never stolen anything in her life, save some candy from the grocery store when she was small. She took several steps forward, then grabbed out her hot pink cell phone. She speed dialed Mia and when she answered she said, "Mia, you have control of all of the cameras, right?"

"Right…"

"And you can tell me of any traps tht are up ahead, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Okay, good," Jen said, cutting her off. She looked ahead and said, "Is there anything ahead of me?"

"Jen, old buddy, you get to put your beloved gymnastics training to the test and go to the Olympics!" Mia said, chuckling a bit. Jen was confused and she said so.

"I don't get it," Jen said, stepping forward more. Mia laughed again and said, "Take four more steps forward and you'll see what I mean."

Jen did just that. She cautiously moved forward four steps and as soon as she had, red laser light sprung from the walls. They intersected and weaved and trapped Jen inside of them.

_This is so cliché._ Jen thought as she closed her phone. Then she took a deep breath and started dogging the laser beams.

She flipped over the first two, landing awkwardly between two others, almost grazing one. She rolled under a few more, did a backflip to an easier section, did a one handed cartwheel over toward the wall, did a double front flip landing on only one hand. Then she realized it. She was stuck. Three lasers were crisscrossed in front of her and they looked impossible to get over. Her brow crinkled as she tried to think of ways to gain access to the other side. These three were the only thing blocking her. She had ample landing space. Jen sighed, knowing she'd have to try something new. And magically, it hit her. She'd do what was only possible of scary good superheroes. She bounced up and down a bit and decided it was the only way.

Jennifer did what looked like a flip…except it was toward a wall, right between two lasers. She hit the wall, using her hand to propel her off of it, did another flip, and landed on the other side. She took a bow.

Knowing what she had done was practically impossible, she moved forward, not wanting to test her luck. She called Mia again and asked her, "Anything up ahead?"

"Two guards, both big, burly things," Mia replied, tapping away heatedly. Jen sighed.

"Okay, thanks, Mia," she said, ending the call. She continued forward, stepping quietly. She heard noise, and quickly hid in the shadows. She looked up ahead and saw to husky security guards standing in front of a doorway. She assumed that was where the stuff was. She knew she had to time this perfectly. Standing and waiting was the hardest part. Then the two men turned and faced each other instead of toward her. She took this as her chance, cartwheeled over to the men, and stood in front of them.

Guard #1: Who the hell are you?

Jen: The person who's breaking into this vault.

Guard #2: Get away from here, little girl. Don't make me hurt you.

Jen: Don't make me laugh.

And then there was a flurry of punches, kicks, and pressure point jabs. When all of the commotion had ended, Jen was the only one left standing.

"Thank you, nine years of martial arts training," Jen said to herself, picking her way around the two unconscious men. She reached the door, which needed a fingerprint. She sighed, grabbed one of the men who had tried to hurt her, and stuck his finger on the pad. It had just beeped when Jen let go of the heavy man, panting from the effort of holding him up. "Lay off of the cheese fries, dude," Jen said, walking into the room. Thankfully the door didn't close behind her.

She knew she was in the right room. The vault was divided into three parts. One seemed to have heaving machinery, the next had technology, and the third contained little packages. She assumed that was the one.

As she got closer, she realized that the packages were very small, kind of like a piece of jewelry. She had just begun to read what superpowers were which when she got a phone call. It was Mia. She opened her phone and Mia's worried voice was there to meet her.

"Jen, you have to get out of there. Rachel and Jade met some trouble and that trouble called for backup. I sounded an alarm in another part of the building before they could call, though. Sadly, one of the guards that were heading to the alarm saw either Toni or Lilith outside and they sounded yet another alarm. Rachel went to help them, but Jade stayed back to get you. You need to go before they seal the building!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mia. I'll get out of here, just give me a minute to grab the suits," Jen said, getting slightly worried, but knowing that she needed to stay calm, unlike Mia.

"Okay, just get going!" Mia cried from the phone and then all Jen heard was a dial tone. Jen randomly grabbed six super suits and ran for it. She ran past the guards that had been knocked down. She jumped through the laser beams, which, oddly, had not shut down when she had gotten through. She ran right back through the door from which she came. She saw Jade waiting for her by a couple of knocked out men. Jade scampered over and grabbed Jen's wrist.

"C'mon, we don't have much time before they seal the building," Jade said, calmly, but with a slightly crazed look on her face. Jen nodded and they dashed back the way they came. When they reached the front door, they saw Rachel and Toni fighting a group of about ten men. Jade and Jen saw this and automatically ran over to help. They saw Lilith a few yards away, fighting off only one man. Jade went to help Lilith, but Jen ran to Rachel.

"I got them," Jen crowed, jabbing a man in the stomach. Rachel glanced over at her for a second and then used a superb right hook on a man. Toni was knocked out, as was Lilith. Jade had gotten the man Lilith had been fighting and had beaten him already. Rachel was about to say something but she was caught off guard. A man's shoulder rammed into hers and she flew backward, out cold from hitting her head on the ground. Jen yelled over to Jade,

"Wake up Toni, Lilith, and Rae. I'll handle the guards!" Jade nodded and ran to rouse the other girls.

Three big men vs. Jennifer Mallory Hex.

This would not go down well. Jen fired off a punch at the first man, who took it, rolling his head back to avoid breaking his jaw. Then the man shot his fist out, catching Jen in the stomach. She went flying into the air but turned it into a backflip. She landed and ran at the men again, kicking one and hitting another on the neck. Both went down. One man left.

She ran at him, dodged his heavy punch, and tried to sweep his legs out from under him. He moved out of the way and pounded her on the top of her head. She fell to the ground, stunned. He loomed over her…or, at least he did until a flying black figure came at him, kicking him in the gut and jabbing him all over. He finally went down. Jen, still staggered, looked up and saw Jade standing there, holding out a hand.

"Looks like we definitely have to train," Jade said, looking slightly happy and proud. Jen nodded, unable to speak quite yet.

Rachel was just coming to. She looked at the girls and said, "To Toni's house, then?"

They all nodded and started walking, or limping in Lilith's case. Somehow, no one was really sure, they made it to the Monetti Mansion, just a few blocks down from most of their houses. Now, I don't know about your family, but walking through the front door at three a.m. with you and your girlfriends looking totally beaten up can give the wrong image. It can say that you've been partying all night or it can say…

"Toni Elizabeth Monetti! Have you been mugged?" Toni's mom screeched when she came down to see who was coming inside the house. Toni sighed.

"No, mom, I haven't been mugged. I just got in a fight. I'm fine," Toni said, avoiding her mother's gaze.

"Well, maybe your friends aren't all right. Did you ever think of that?" Mrs. Monetti said, her messy bed-head black hair getting in her face. Toni was just about to reply when her mother looked at the other girls and said, "Oh. Dears, you look awful and tired. Why don't you all shower up and then stay the night? Is that alright? It's terribly dangerous being out this late."

"Thanks, Mrs. Monetti!" Jen said happily. The rest of the girls nodded and thanked her, and then began walking up the winding staircase that led to the mansion's second floor, where Toni's room was.

Hurrying up there, away from the prying eyes of Mrs. Monetti, the girls ran off to Toni's never messy, thanks to their housekeeper Greta, bedroom. Opening the door to allow the flood of hormonal teenage girls, Toni walked into her bedroom. Then, once the door was closed, they all looked at Jen, who pulled the six small packages out from her pockets, where they had been small enough to fit.

"They seem really small," Lilith said, but right then there was a knock on the door. Jen quickly hid the parcels under Toni's pillow. Thankfully, it was only Mia who walked in, Toni's mom having let her into the house.

"Did you get 'em?" Mia asked excitedly. Jen lifted up the pillow and showed them. Then she said, "I didn't exactly get to choose the powers, so I don't know what we ended up with."

The girls looked at them expectantly and Rachel said, "Well, read us the powers and we'll decide who gets them."

"Okay, I will. Good idea, Rach," Jen said, picking up the first packet.

"Plasma energy and flight," Jen read off, looking at the girls. "Anyone want it?"

"Oh, I do!" Toni said. "Throw it here." Jen threw her the package and Toni viciously ripped into it. What she pulled out shocked them all. It was a gleaming silver necklace. The necklace had the letter A engraved on it in blood red writing.

"So it's just…jewelry?" Toni asked curiously. Rachel shrugged.

"I guess so," she said, glancing at the other packages. She grabbed one and said, "I'll take this one."

"What is it?" Jen asked. Rachel squinted at the label.

"Telekinesis/mind powers, magic, flight." Jen sighed.

"I wanted one like that!" she said, but then she noticed another, one that said, "Magic, hex bolts, can see in dark like cat, martial arts."

She ripped it open and saw another necklace, a choker with a small pendant. Rachel opened hers at the same moment and saw a small red gemstone on a delicate silver chain. She picked it up softly, examining it, contrasting the color of stone with the chain. Whoever made this had practically made it for her.

"Next?" Mia asked impatiently, wanting the two girls to be done with their extensive observation of their jewelry. Jen sighed, put the choker down, and grabbed the next package.

"Telepath/mind powers, astral form."

Lilith grabbed the package and hurriedly opened it. Out fell a delicate necklace, silver, and made of little orbs. Lilith clapped in delight and hastened to put it on.

"Martial arts, claws, poisons (non-lethal)" Jen continued. Mia and Jade both looked at each other, and then lunged for the package. Jade got there first, grabbing it and jumping on top of the bed. Mia looked depressed.

"What's left?" she asked hopefully. Jen looked down at the one little package left.

"Archery, martial arts, swordsmanship," she read, throwing the packet to Mia and picking up her choker. She put it on as Mia pulled out a necklace with a little arrow on it. A red arrow on a gold chain. She thought it was one of the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

At the same time, Jade had grabbed out a green choker with a green jewel on the end…a jade. Irony much?

As the girls examined their jewelry, someone, somewhere else, is already plotting their demise.

He sat in the shadows, fingers steeped. He waited. Then, out of the darkness, came two people. The first was an old man wearing a tuxedo. He stood off to the side and let the man hidden in the dark talk to the other newcomer. The other person was a girl, sixteen or seventeen by the look of her. She was dressed in a purple leotard and had a red sash tired around her waist. She looked at the man and waited for him to speak.

"Do you know why I called you here today?" the man asked, suddenly. She shook her head, waiting.

"I called you because I knew you would come. I knew that with the right…incentive, you would do anything." The girl just watched him as he spoke; no emotion crossed her face. He glanced at her and said, "I trust you've heard of the break in at Wayne Enterprises?"

The girl, slightly surprised, nodded, still not speaking. He looked but what crossed his face was unknown, for he was wearing a mask.

"The teenage girls that robbed the place…they took the super suits. I need you to find the girls and take them down."

The girl, who had been looking at the ground, looked up and finally spoke.

"No."

The man was shocked. How dare she say no to him! He calmed himself, knowing that it was crucial to be composed. He chuckled a bit.

"Are you sure, my dear? If you refuse, unexplained phenomenon shall occur, and you will not be on its good side."

"I said no," the girl said, staring at the man with a cool and calculating look on her face.

"Very well. Thank you for coming, child," he said, furious under the mask that she had said no. Oh well. That just means that it is time for the backup plan. He watched her as she left, melting back into the bitter darkness. He turned now to the butler, the man in the tuxedo.

"Wintergreen, have a camera set up outside Jump City High School."

The older man nodded and prepared to leave, but was stopped by the masked man.

"Oh, and Wintergreen? Get me Deadpool," he said, mouth curling into a smile under the two-toned mask.

"Yes, Mister Slade," the man named Wintergreen said and turned to leave the room.

"It's Deathstroke, Wintergreen. Deathstroke the Terminator."

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Okay, so I found a replacement for Jinx! Come on out!

**Terra: Uh…**

**Titangirl: Don't be shy! Do the review responses!**

**Terra: Hi, uh, don't mind the crazy lady.**

**GossipGirl**

**Terra: If you think the show's dumb, then why is your name GossipGirl?**

**Titangirl: Terra…to the point, please.**

**Terra: I think I bring out the sane side in her.**

**Titangirl: GOGOGOGOGOGO! You little monkey, go before I shoplift!**

**Terra: Never mind. Anyway, glad you like the fic. Titangirl tries…hard…but it never really comes out perfectly.**

**Titangirl: NEXT!**

**Wave-Existence**

**Terra: Glad you like. Titangirl tries her best to write well, juggling high school, singing, her friends, and annoying dogs.**

**Titangirl: Poodle!**

**Terra: …yeah…so, no one actually know where this lunatic sent Jinx, but we figure she'll show up in a month or so. Keep reading!**

**RedrumRaven**

**Titangirl: Hey Terra, have you ever read the Judas Contract?**

**Terra: Uh, no? Why?**

**Titangirl: Because it's a story all about you!**

**Terra: Point?**

**Titangirl: Tell you in a minute, stick woman!**

**Terra: *sigh* Thanks for reading, sorry she didn't update sooner. She's more colorful than a Fruit Loop.**

**Ella Thompson**

**Terra: Thanks for reviewing! Updates are slow, so sorry, but Titangirl is in the IB Program, which is intensely difficult. Please stick with the story, Ella.**

**Titangirl: YOU DIE!**

**Terra: What the hell?**

**Titangirl: In the comic! YOU DIE! Muhahahahahah!**

**Terra: *sweatdrops* Back to the loony bin with you, oh dear authoress.**

**Author Notes:**

**I swear with all my heart that the next chapter will be even longer. But owwwww, my hand hurts! I hope you all review! Oh, and the chapter name: "Crime never sleeps." It fits, right? Well…**

**R**

**E**

**V**

**I**

**E**

**W**

**- Titangirl797**


	6. Holding Fear in Your Hand

Disclaimer: If I owned Teen Titans, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, or anything like that…don't you think I would have told you by now?

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"Your right hook needs a lot of work," Rachel Roth said, watching her best friend as she fought Jade Nguyen. The dark girl shook her head and continued to watch, noting all imperfect fighting maneuvers and potentially disastrous moves. Jennifer Hex and Jade had been going at it for almost thirty minutes, with Jade getting most of the good hits in. Finally, Jade threw Jen to the ground, stood over her, and said, "I win."

Jen sighed, her hopes that she would win this time disappearing. She glanced over at Rachel, who was sitting on a lawn chair. Thankfully, Toni Monetti's backyard had a wooden fence all around it. Toni's extremely rich parents were paranoid to the point of extremism. Rachel stood up and walked over to Jen. Jade had already moved over to the picnic table in the far left corner of the yard to get some water.

Rachel bent down and helped Jen to stand. Jen shook her off. "Nine years of martial arts training and I couldn't beat her," Jen mumbled, slightly depressed at the fact that Jade's Vietnamese martial arts instruction could beat her so easily. Rachel rolled her eyes at her blonde-and-pink haired friend as she finally stood, shaking a bit.

"You were fine, Jen," Rachel said, letting Jen lean on her for the moment. Jen's left leg had gone numb from the impact of when she had landed. Finally, Jen began to walk toward the lawn chair that Rachel had just vacated.

"Yeah, right. She swept the floor with me, Rach. I don't know if I'm going to be good enough out there," Jen said, motioning to the fence, outside of which there was a city teeming with gangs and dirt. Jen reached the chair, plopped down, and began massaging her left leg, which felt like pins and needles were coursing through it. She needed to get the blood flowing again. Rachel knelt down by the chair and began kneading the leg as well. Then she spoke.

"The only reason you failed was because you were fighting a friend, someone you wouldn't normally hurt. Jade obviously doesn't have that restriction, though she only used moves that were sure not to harm you too much." Jen looked at her with fascination, rubbing her leg harder. The feeling was starting to come back.

"You really think so, Rachel? What if I go out to fight and one of you gets hurt because of me? I don't know if I can do it." Jen sighed and looked away from Rachel, toward the girls at the picnic table; Jade Nguyen, Lilith Clay, Mia Dearden, and Toni Monetti. Her shoulders loosened and she hung her head. Rachel punched her shoulder playfully.

"Head up, Jen. You'll be fine out there and so will we. You know what? I've been meaning to talk with you and the others. Come on," Rachel said, motioning for her to get up. She began to walk over to the other girls, helping Jen up and assisting her in the process of joining the other girls. Lilith saw them coming and moved over to make room. The others did the same.

"Hey, Jen, are you okay? I didn't mean for you to fall quite so hard," Jade began, but Jen cut her off.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My leg once again has feeling!" Jen said, masking her disappointment at her loss. Jade smiled and looked over at Rachel, who was beginning to speak.

"Okay, we've been training for a month and it has helped us immensely. I propose that we try out our costumes now, discover how they work, and maybe, just maybe, start patrolling the area sometime soon." Rachel carefully watched the faces of her friends. Most of them went from curiosity to joy, but Jade went from questioning to a pained like face. The others noticed this as well.

"Uh, Jade? Are you okay?" Lilith asked, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder. Jade shook it off and then said, "I promised I'd train, not fight. If my mother learns of this crime fighting, I'd be in a lot of trouble…" Jade started mumbling in a foreign language, most likely Vietnamese. The girls watched her, a bit startled. Lilith put her hand on Jade's shoulder once more but Jade jumped away, shouting now.

"Cô sẽ biết, tôi sẽ bị bắt, tôi sẽ được trong những rắc rối. Tôi muốn làm điều này nhưng tôi sợ rằng tôi có thể không!"

They stared at her, not one of them having any idea what she said. Then Rachel said, "Jade, calm down!" Jade looked at her and then sat back down, breathing heavily. She shook her head slightly and said, "I'm sorry. It's just, if my mother finds out, I doubt any good will come of it."

"We'll make sure she doesn't know, Jade," Mia said, confidence in her voice and her posture. She looked around and then said, "I don't know about you, but I'm itching to learn about the powers! We haven't done anything fun since Homecoming!"

_Flashback:_

"_I can't believe you got me into this dress, Jen. I thought you didn't want to go either!" Rachel said as she looked at herself in the long mirror in Jen's bathroom. Jen chuckled._

"_I don't," Jen said, "but Jade is very persuasive. She mentioned to me that if I went, I would get to see you in a dress, and wouldn't that be a sight to behold." Rachel glared at the pink clad girl. Jen was pulling on her silver Manolo Blahnik shoes, the ones that had cost $1,050 at Barney's. Rachel sighed before pulling her shoes on too. She was wearing a blue dress that was a bit shorter than knee length and silver Sigerson Morrison shoes. Rachel had already had her hair forcibly made into 'lush waves' (or that's what Jen called them anyway; she just thought they made her head look big) and her makeup (not very much, just eyeliner and mascara) was pristine. Jen stood up._

"_Let's go," she said, heading to the door. The others would be meeting them at the dance. She stopped when she realized that Rachel was not following her._

"_Rachel, come on," she said, a bit more forcibly. Rachel slowly shook her head._

"_I'm not going," she said, pulling off her shoes. Jen was astounded. She moved toward Rachel and said, "Come on Rach, you bought the dress and now you're not going?"_

"_Dresses are not for me, Jennifer. I refuse to be put on display like a mannequin. You go; I'm staying here." And with that, Rachel unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor, standing now in only her strapless bra and panties. She walked over to Jen's bathroom and picked up a washcloth. She began washing off the makeup that Jen had so carefully put on. Jen just watched, dumbfounded._

"_But you…you can't just…" Jen stuttered. Rachel turned to look at her; mascara streaked down her face, and said, "I can, Jennifer. Just go to the damn dance." Jen hung her head slightly, then looked back up, nodded, and said, "I'll tell you how it went when I get back."_

_Rachel also nodded and finished wiping off the horrendous makeup. When she looked back in Jen's room, Jen was gone. Rachel sighed and then sat on Jen's black bed and slept._

_In the meantime, Jen was just arriving at the dance. She saw Toni and Mia waiting for her outside the school gym. Toni was dressed in gray, with black and white plaid on the top and bottom. Her black shoes had just a hint of red on them. She looked fabulous. Mia also looked very nice. She was wearing a red bubble dress with the diamonds that Jen had bought for her. Her expensive silver shoes were also bought by Jen. Jen stepped out of her mother's Mercedes. She waved goodbye to her mother and ran as fast as she could (without breaking any heels) to Mia and Toni. The girls exchanged squeals and then Toni said, "Where's Rach?"_

_Jen sighed. "She's not coming," she said, disappointment evident on her face. Toni looked upset and Mia looked a bit sad. Then Mia said,_

"_Oh, look there's Jade. She's going to have a heyday." Jen looked around and saw the beautifully made up Jade, wearing a dark green dress and black Manolo Blahniks, rushing toward them._

"_Where. Is. Rachel?" Jade asked, and one could almost swear that there was a fire in her eyes. Jade looked at Jen, waiting for an explanation. The girl swallowed and then said, "She's…uh, not coming."_

_Then the explosion happened. Metaphorically, of course. "NOT COMING?" Jade asked, practically blowing smoke out her ears. Jen nodded, steeled herself, and said,_

"_Look, Jade, dances just aren't Rachel's thing. Let's just go in, have fun, and you can murder her later."_

_Jade looked at her in surprise and then thoughtfulness. Then she nodded. The four girls started to walk inside but were stopped by a figure in white. An angel? No, more like the thin form of Lilith Clay. Lilith's red hair was curled slightly and framed her face perfectly. Her white lace dress and bright red pumps looked superb. All of her friends were staring at her, amazed that Lilith was showing this much skin. Lilith blushed and said, "So…are we going in?" The other girls all nodded and they proceeded inside._

_Inside the dance it was dark and loud, flashing strobe lights and colored beams were everywhere. They saw some people they knew and some they didn't dancing inside. They watched as Tara Markov and Connie Anders danced past, their designer dresses making them look fabulous. They saw the beautiful Kori Anders dance past, followed by a couple of drooling boys._

_The girls walked farther into the room, pushing their way past several couples in…compromising positions._

"_C'mon, guys! Dance!" Jade shouted over the pounding music. The other girls agreed and began to move to the music. Jen moved away from the others unintentionally. She was just looking around for them when someone behind her said,_

"_Looking for the other losers, Hex?"_

_It was Connie Anders, captain of the cheerleading squad and tease extraordinaire. She was standing behind Jen, one leg bouncing to the beat. But she wasn't alone. Oh, no. With her were two extremely mean-spirited girls. They were usually implicated by crying girls of all ages and social statuses. With Connie were Adrianna Tomaz and Karen Beecher. People thought that Tara Markov was mean but she didn't hold a candle to these two harpies. Adrianna Tomaz was an Egyptian girl, dark hair and eyes, who thought that everyone was beneath her. She was convinced that she was perfection. She was wearing a short white dress that turned into gold sparkles at the top. It was a beautiful dress. Too bad it was on a very ugly girl…inside of course. If she wasn't beautiful on the outside, she wouldn't hang out with Tara Markov and Connie Anders._

_Karen Beecher used to be a nice girl, until she dated a guy who not only cheated on her but beat her up. The whole school knew the story. She was pissed and beat Sebastian Blood up so hard that he had a school transfer. He was now at Gotham Heights High School, leading a blessedly Karen-less life. So now the loudmouth Karen took out her frustrations on pretty much everyone. She went by the motto, "There's not a man alive who can tell me what to do." And for the most part, it seemed true. Even male teachers were wary around her. Her orange and gold dress looked magnificent on her, as well as her gold heels._

_So what were these three fruit loops doing cornering Jennifer at a school function?_

"_So, Jenny, where's little Rae-Rae? Skipped out on the dance, has she?" Connie asked, malice evident in her voice. She took a step closer. "Or was it that she didn't want to be in a dress, for the first time in her life?"_

_Jen gulped silently. She hated talking to idiots like these. "No, it's just that she didn't want to be near losers like you three," Jen heard herself saying. She mentally smacked herself. If Connie didn't react, Adrianna was sure to._

"_You little bitch! How dare you talk to your superiors like that?" Yep, Adrianna reacted._

"_Adrianna, can you please go away? I just got over a cold and I don't want to catch Egyptian Fever."_

_That did it. Insults on Egypt did not sit well with the attractive harpy. She lunged for Jen, who sidestepped, allowing Adrianna to become splayed all over the gym floor. Several people began to snicker. Adrianna glared at everyone as she got up. Thankfully for Jen, a teacher or two had just come over to see what was wrong. Connie and Karen had slipped back into the crowd. Adrianna was trying to push the fall off as her tripping. Jen sighed and walked away to find her friends. She reached the girls, explained what had just happened with the three popular girls, and then made a very welcome suggestion._

"_Let's leave."_

_Jen's friends looked at her in shock. Jen continued._

"_Adrianna might come back with other friends and I don't feel like being in a fight tonight. Let's go grab Rachel, change into party clothes, and go clubbing." Jade nodded._

"_That's actually a good idea. Rachel would probably go for it too. Let's go," Jade said, heading for the doors of the gym._

_The girls promptly left the dance._

_Once they reached Jen's house, they ran inside, giggling about how Jen had stood up to those three empty headed twits. They went into Jen's room…and saw Rachel asleep in her underwear. Giggling again, they all went over to the bed. Then they counted to three and yelled._

"_RAE!"_

_A hand shot out, taking Jade by the throat. Then a slightly hoarse voice said, "My name is Rachel, not Rae." Jade was quickly losing air so she fought for freedom. Rachel swiftly let go of the girl's neck and mumbled an apology. All Jade did was massage her neck._

"_Don't scare me like that," Rachel said to the girls gathered around the bed. They all nodded slowly. Then Rachel sat up and said, "So, how was the dance?"_

"_We left early," Jen said, amused with the look on Rachel's face._

"_Left early? Why?" Rachel asked, confused. She looked at Jade. "You let them leave early?" she asked._

_Jade nodded and said, "Jen got in a spot of trouble with some idiotic nitwits. We left. We're going clubbing. You gonna come with?"_

_Rachel nodded and said, "As long as I don't have to wear a dress."_

_End flashback._

"Oh yeah, that was kinda fun," Lilith said, referring to the clubbing. The rest of the girls murmured their agreement.

"Can we try out the powers now?" Rachel asked, getting anxious and annoyed. The rest of the group nodded so they all took the pieces of jewelry out from their pockets. Of course, they had no idea how these worked so they ended up staring at the little pieces of technology.

Jen broke the silence. "So…how do we work them?" The same thing was going through all of the other girls' heads. How the hell do these things work?

"Dammit, this is dumb," Toni said, fumbling with the locket. It clicked open, finally. Inside was a little fingerprint scanner and a tiny screen. Toni stared at it, very confused. A scanner? _Well, here goes._ Toni stuck her index finger of her right hand on the little scanner. She felt a tiny prick on her finger, and then the locket beeped very quietly and her name came up on the screen. Next thing she knew, she felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded.

Toni Monetti was Toni Monetti no more. Toni was now dressed in a white and black one piece. Since Toni was originally 5'7", it looked rather good on her. Her skin was grayish, but her black hair looked exactly the same as it had before. She looked down at herself and whimpered.

"Guys?" she asked, realizing that no one but herself had seen her transformation. Mia shook her head.

"Not now, Toni. We're trying to figure out how these work."

Toni gulped. "I think I figured it out," she said. The others looked up and were promptly surprised. They gasped.

"Oh my god, Toni! How did you do it?" Mia gushed, letting the other girls stare with open mouths. Toni looked down at herself again. She had no idea how this had happened. She stated this fact but Mia was not swayed. Then Toni remembered the scanner.

"Oh, wait! I remember how this happened! I was playing with the locket and I finally got it open. Inside was a small scanner and screen. It was a fingerprint scanner so I stuck my index finger on it and my finger got pricked and then my name flashed on the screen. Then I felt kind of woozy and then I was like this!" Toni said, ranting. She pointed to Jen. "Try it!" she said, motioning to the choker.

Jen grasped the choker with both hands, looked at it, and then said, "It's not a locket, Toni." Toni walked over and glanced at it. Then she said, "Maybe the gem is a hidden scanner." Jen thought this might be it so she put her finger on the black gemstone. A slight beeping noise and a feeling of dizziness later, and Jennifer Hex was gone.

In her place was a gray skinned, extremely thin girl. Jen's new hair was bright pink and was the same way she had it before, in a ponytail. She was wearing a purple and black dress, purple and black striped tights, and black platform shoes/combat boots. Rachel gaped at her.

"Your hair!" she said, stifling giggles. Girls like Rachel did not giggle. Jen glared at her and said, "I hope your hair changes colors too." Rachel just smothered the giggles even more. When she talked, her hair bobbed up and down and it looked so funny pink.

While Jen had been changing, Jade had too. They both had chokers and so Jade decided to try it out too. Of course, it worked. Jade was now wearing a dress of some sort. It was green, with long sleeves and a short skirt. The whole dress had gold trim. She also had green boots on, with the same gold trim. Her forearms had black bands attached to them, and attached to the bands were metal claws that could be shot out and retracted. Her hair was wavy and black, as it had been before, but she now had a green band on her forehead, kind of like a sweatband, but Jade never really sweated. What really got her attention, though, was the fact that she now had a tattoo of a pink flower. On her breast. She was appalled. Of course she would get the costume that her mother would despise the most.

Mia noticed her and said, "Whoa, Jade, you look hot." Jade scrunched her eyebrows together, wondering if that was a compliment. Then Mia looked down at her arrow necklace and said, "Mine's too small to have a scanner!"

Rachel and Lilith noticed the same on their necklaces. The girls all sat down at the picnic table, trying to discover how to work the other necklaces. Mia felt along her little arrow, sighing. Maybe not all of them worked! Then her finger hit it. There was a little ridge between the gold fletching. A button. Mia felt it again, sure that this couldn't be it. She pressed it, lightly. She felt something puncture her finger and the little red arrow turned bright gold. She felt faint and then she knew something was different. Her friends were staring at her. She looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing a red one piece suit. There was an arrow shaped cut out on her chest, exposing just a bit of her breasts. She was also wearing a yellow cape with a hood. Currently, the hood was pulled up, so you couldn't see the red mask covering her eyes. She had yellow boots on and yellow arm braces. A yellow quiver was strapped to her back, containing red arrows. An unstrung white and red bow was in the quiver as well.

She looked back up at her comrades, who were all staring at her with looks of utmost interest. Then Rachel said, "How the hell did you do that?"

Mia glanced at her, then at the piece of jewelry that she was currently holding. She put the golden necklace on, the small arrow once again red with gold fletching. It swung for a second before Mia said, "You have to find the small, very small, button. Mine was between the fletching on the arrow. Lilith, yours is probably on one of the orbs. Rachel, yours is probably on the gem."

Said girls went quickly began searching for the switch. Rachel was the first one to find it. Originally, her necklace's gemstone seemed perfect and untouched. Upon closer inspection, Rachel notices the smallest of lumps on the back of the stone. She touched it…and was overcome by a feeling of lightheadedness. When the feeling subsided, she gazed at herself. She wasn't wearing black yoga pants and a dark blue tank top. No, she was dressed in a black leotard with long sleeves and a blue cloak. A red gem and gold pin was holding her cloak together and the same types of gems were on the backs of her hands. Her shoes were blue boots, the same color as the cloak. To add a final touch, a belt made of the same red gems was around her waist. The belt, which was an odd one, was just the right touch. Lilith found her button as Rachel was changing. The elusive little switch was on the third orb from the right on her necklace. Lilith pushed it and changed as well.

She was now wearing a red and black dress. Larger silver orbs were wrapped around her waist in a sort of belt. Bandages were wrapped around her forearms and black boots went to her thighs. She snapped on the necklace.

All of the girls were in costume. Now, they looked more like a team and less like a group of kids playing make-believe. They looked like heroes. They watched each other, drinking in their new appearances. Then they all smiled, except Rachel.

"Can we try out our powers now?" Jen asked, examining a lock of her pink hair. Rachel nodded and then said, "But be careful! Nothing too amazing or Toni's parents will see."

All of the soon-to-be superheroes agreed and they stood up. "Hm, telekinesis…" Rachel said, curiously. She stuck out one of her hands tentatively and the lawn chair that she had been sitting on earlier shot into the air. "Ah!" she cried, not knowing how to control it. The shout broke her concentration and the chair fell, breaking as it hit the ground. Jade and Mia, who had been closest to the chair, jumped back, scared. Rachel began to smile. Just a bit. She began to imagine lifting the pieces of the broken chair. To her surprise, it worked. She began lifting things all over the place.

While Rachel was lifting pieces of lawn furniture all over the place, Mia was trying out her arrows, Jade was learning about her new claws, and Lilith was trying to read Jen's mind. Jen wasn't doing anything. Toni and Lilith were the only ones who noticed this. Toni walked over to Jen and asked, "Are you alright, Jen? You're not trying out your powers." Jen glanced at her and said, "One of my powers is hex bolts. I don't want to mess up your backyard with my new powers." Toni nodded, understanding. Then Rachel walked over. She stopped just short of Toni and Jen. Then she said, "You're worried you're going to screw things up with your powers." Jen muttered a word of agreement. Rachel tapped her head and said "Telepath."

"Uh, guys? Do you think we should choose superhero names now?" Lilith asked, wandering over. She had also read Jen's mind and wanted to remove the tension, which was currently so thick you could cut it with a knife. The rest of the cluster nodded, also hoping to make things better.

Sitting and thinking when they had just gained use of amazing powers was a difficult task. Mia kept playing with her arrow necklace and Jade took out and withdrew her claws.

Finally, the sweet silence was broken by Jen.

"Jinx."

"What?" Rachel asked, perplexed.

"My name. Jinx."

"You're not bad luck, Jennifer."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not, but my new powers sure want to show some fool just how unlucky he is when he comes across us out there on the street," Jen said, smiling a bit. She did tend to be unlucky, but maybe she could make that into a good thing. Mia's head shot up from where she was "resting" it.

"I got it! Speedy!" Mia said, grinning widely. Rachel gazed at the blonde girl with a smirk on her face.

"Isn't that the name of that sidekick to Green Arrow that went rogue a couple years back? Didn't he kill someone and stop being a hero?" Rachel asked, stifling a smile. Mia looked shocked.

"Well…yeah, but I could be his successor! Speedy II! I'll be a good guy, I promise."

"Whatever. So, we have Jinx and Speedy. What about you, Jade?" Rachel said, sighing at Mia's dramatics.

"I was thinking Cheshire."

"Cheshire? Why?" Jen inquired. Jade put on a shy smile before she answered Jen's question.

"Like the Cheshire Cat, in Alice in Wonderland. He was constantly hiding in the shadows, using tricks to move, talk to Alice, and help Alice. Or in some cases, screw with Alice's mind. In the end, though, all that was left of him was his very wide grin. I think that in this case, someone crazy such as the Cheshire Cat is a good example of how I should be. Since I don't have actual powers, I need to hide in the shadows, help people, and screw with people's minds."

The other girls were stunned by the thought put into this answer. Yes, it was true that this was how someone without powers needed to be. Smart, smart Jade.

"I came up with a name too," Lilith piped up, ready to tell all. She waited and then said, "Omen."

"Omen?" Toni said questioningly. Lilith nodded.

"Omen."

Lilith would provide no more information on this subject. That being that, they all turned to Toni and Rachel, the only ones without names, so far.

Toni glanced at her necklace and told the group that her name was to be Argent. She held up the necklace with the A on it and then shot out a blast of her plasma energy. Silver plasma energy.

Rachel, being the only one left, was soon turned to. The cloak she was wearing had the hood up, as it had the whole time, so she slowly lowered it.

The five others gasped. Embedded in Rachel's forehead was the red gem from her necklace, the chain of which was nowhere to be found. Also, Rachel's hair color had changed from jet black to a striking purple color. Only Jennifer spoke.

"Uh, Rach? You know your gem thingie is implanted in your forehead, right? Oh, and your hair is purple!"

"Thank you for stating the obvious, Jennifer."

Jen sweatdropped and backed away. Rachel's tone implied certain death to anyone else who mentioned it. She spoke again.

"Raven."

No one needed nor wanted an explanation. Not after seeing her get all riled up about the stone-in-forehead thing.

"If it helps, guys, I can hook up either a radio or a computer to the police radios. Then we'd know when something bad was going on." Mia broke the second round of tension that afternoon.

All of the girls sighed and nodded. "I propose nightly patrols as well," Jade stated, warn=ming up to the idea of fighting crime. Rachel nodded.

"We need a name," Rachel added, searching her mind for a suitable name for their team. The others racked their brains as well, but no one came up with anything. Rachel heaved a sigh.

"I guess we can come up with something later," she said.

"How do we change back?" Jen, now Jinx, asked. Right then, there was a small flash of light and Mia looked as she had before, dressed in jean shorts and a green tank top. She giggled.

"Just think about changing back. It'll do the rest for you," she said. The others shrugged and tried what she had suggested. Soon, with five more small flashes, the girls were back looking as they normally did.

They all made sure that the necklaces were on before they headed inside. Calling out the her mother, Toni made sure that she knew they were inside again. Toni's mother rapidly made sure that the teenagers would have something to eat and then she left them alone.

"So, Raven, Jinx, Cheshire, Omen, Argent, and Speedy. Superheroines," Mia said, giggling.

"Toni's house is base, right?" Jade asked, not wanting to miss out on anything.

"Yeah, and we'll start patrols tomorrow night," Jen said, looking at all of her friends.

"Only one problem," Rachel said blandly. The girls looked at her with confusion evident on their faces. _What?_ – all of their faces seemed to ask. Rachel rolled her eyes and said, "With us being teenagers and all, it's very likely that this is going to get out of hand. We're all going to want to do separate things. We're going to need plans for everything we do. We're going to need somebody to lead this team, someone who can think under stress and that all of us trust completely."

Jen furrowed her brow. "I don't know about the others, but I'm voting for you, Rach," she said, glancing at the other voters. Lilith was nodding and Jade seemed to be zoned out, thinking. Rachel sighed and said, "No, not me, Jen."

Then Toni spoke up. "But Rachel, you're all of those things that you said. You can think under stress and we all trust you. Come on, you were totally born to do this."

"It may not be the best idea, Toni," Rachel said, thinking of her father. She shuddered. She didn't want him to know that she was the leader of a superhero group, that was for sure.

"Rachel, look at it this way," Jade said, staring Rachel straight in the eyes. "If you don't do it, one of us will have to. I doubt either Mia," insert a snort from said teenager here, "or Lilith would be able to handle being in charge, no offense meant. Toni's a little too hot headed for this; she'd have us barge in without even thinking of a plan first. Jen or I could do it, but both of us have different vies of how things should be done. I would think so much that nothing would ever happen, and Jen would have us act a lot and get us into sticky situations. You're the best for this, seeing as you can handle pressure and stress, unlike Lilith, Mia, or Toni, and everyone trusts you the most, seeing as you're the most straightforward person we've ever met." Rachel grumbled a bit at this. Jade sighed.

"Look, Rachel. You and the others convinced me to be on this team. So, if I'm gonna be on it, I want to be under a strong leader, someone I know will take us in the right direction," Jade finished and then went silent.

Rachel stared at the ground from her spot on Toni's red and black bed for a moment. It seemed as if she was still going to refuse. Then she spoke, in a darkly monotone voice.

"Fine, I'll do it."

"Thanks Rae," Jade said, smiling a little. Rachel fixed her with her fiercest glare, the one that put Tara Markov to shame.

"My name is Rae-chel, Jade, so please call me such." Jade quailed under the furious stare, not moving a muscle. Then Rachel stopped glaring and said, "Raven, Jinx, Cheshire, Omen, Argent, and Speedy. Superheroes."

The girls all grinned and began chatting about various things, such as their powers, costumes, and what their parents would think if they ever found out.

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Night was just settling in upon Jump City. In the nicer area of town, almost no one was on the streets. Many of the houses were shrouded in shadow and half-dark already. One house, at the very end of Lilac Avenue, was completely dark, save one bright room on the upper floor. Inside the room is none other than Tara Markov, the blonde ringleader of the Jump City popular crowd. Her parents were out for the night, at some charity function or other, leaving Tara with the house to herself. Tara was locked in her room, doing what all teenagers do. No, not that! Get your mind out of the gutter, people. Sheesh. So, Tara was IM chatting with her friends, girls that the devil practically spawned.

_PrincessTaraM: Did you see what Charlotte was wearing today? I mean, come on, a batshirt? We're in Jump, not Gotham._

_CAEmpress: Ya, I know. But what really got me was that twit Jen Hex. I srsly can't stand her pink and blond hair. Makes me sick._

_PrettyInPink1040: Must you be so harsh, Connie?_

_CAEmpress: Shut up or get off, Kori_

_DeathToBatz690: You are way too nice, Kori. Grow a spine._

_PrettyInPink1040: Cassie, please do not be so mean to me, for I have done nothing to warrant such abuse._

_CAEmpress: Go away Kori._

_PrettyInPink1040: I believe I shall. Goodnight Tara._

_PrincessTaraM: See ya Kori_

_PrettyInPink1040 has signed off at 7:59:07 p.m._

_DeathToBatz690: Thank goodness she's finally gone._

_PrincessTaraM: Hang on. The doorbell just rang_

_CAEmpress: Me too_

_DeathToBatz690: Same with me_

_PrincessTaraM: Weird._

_PrincessTaraM: Okay, did either of you get a box with no note and a piece of jewelry inside?_

_DeathToBatz690: I did._

_CAEmpress: Kori and I both did._

_CAEmpress: What does your jewelry look like? Mine is a necklace, gold, with a large red gem on it. Kori got a silver necklace with a green gem on it, smaller than mine._

_PrincessTaraM: Mine's silver with a small blue butterfly charm on it._

_EgyptianGoddess000 has signed on at 8:08:25 p.m._

_EgyptianGoddess000: Did any of you get a box at your doorway this evening?_

_PrincessTaraM: Yeah, we did. We were just describing them. What's yours?_

_EgyptianGoddess000: A golden armband that coils around your arm like a snake. I love it._

_DeathToBatz690: Silver chain, blood red stone_

_KittyMothLove3 has signed in at 8:17:54 p.m._

_KittyMothLove3: Oh em gee! I got jewelry in the mail!_

_DeathToBatz690: You don't say?_

_PrincessTaraM: What's it look like, Kitty?_

_KittyMothLove3: It's a necklace with a silver chain and a really pretty pink charm shaped like a butterfly or something._

_CAEmperess: Lovely. We've all gotten jewelry too, Kitty._

_KittyMothLove3: Really? Ohhhh, are they pretty?_

_DeathToBatz690: Yes Kitten, very pretty. Someone get Karen online. We need to know if she got something too._

_CAEmpress: On it._

_KarenStings101 has signed in at 8:22:48 p.m._

_CAEmpress: Hey Karen_

_KarenStings101: What do you guys want? You said that it was urgent on the phone, Connie._

_DeathToBatz690: Did you get a little box at the door just now?_

_KarenStings101: Yeah. How'd you know?_

_PrincessTaraM: We all got them too._

_CAEmpress: Wow, Tara, you were quiet for so long that I thought you had skipped out on us to go hang with Gar._

_PrincessTaraM: Nahh, Gar's hanging with Roy tonight. They and some of the guys are having a 'guy's night'._

_KarenStings101: Back to the jewelry from the boxes?_

_DeathToBatz690: Right. So, what's it look like?_

_KarenStings101: Well, it's a necklace, silver, with a spiky little gold B on it as a charm. I assume someone was playing on my last name._

_DeathToBat690: Maybe, maybe not. Remember a couple of weeks ago, Wayne Enterprises was broken into?_

_PrincessTaraM: Yeah. Point?_

_DeathToBatz690: I'm getting there. Well, they said that top secret super suits in the form of jewelry was what was stolen._

_KittyMothLove3: You think that this is the stolen jewelry?_

_DeathToBatz690: Yeah. I mean, it makes sense, right? Maybe we're holding super powers right in our hands._

_CAEmpress: Even if we are, we have no idea how to work it. Let's talk about it tomorrow._

_EgyptianGoddess000: Okay, I gotta go anyway. Buh bye, ladies._

_EgyptianGoddess000 signed off at 8:33:43 p.m._

_PrincessTaraM: I gotta go too. Bye._

_KarenStings101: Me too_

_CAEmpress: I don't but since everyone else is leaving._

_KittyMothLove3: I don't have to go!_

_PrincessTaraM has signed off at 8:34:21 p.m._

_KarenStings101 has signed off at 8:34:24_

_CAEmpress has signed off at 8:34:27_

_KittyMothLove3: Cassandra?_

_DeathToBatz690 has signed off at 8:34:35 p.m._

_KittyMothLove3: *sigh*_

_KittyMothLove3 has signed off at 8:34:40 p.m._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So, another plan set in action, most likely by the dastardly Slade, or Deathstroke, or whatever.

I hope that you review! Speaking of reviews, I've booted Terra off because she tried to help Jinx…and it just doesn't work like that 'round here.

Chapter name from a quote by Amy Tan: "You see what power is - holding someone else's fear in your hand and showing it to them!"


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